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THE 



AMATEUR 



ABROAD: 



Till'; ]<1X-()R1) ()]- A 



Sizfruiiei? Tour in. .Eui'()j>e. 



By George W. Tryon, Jr, 



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PHI LA D ELPHIA 



R E p R r N T E I) I- ji () M "The A \\ a t i: 



Coi,yrit.|it, IST;-), by (Jeoikjk W. Tkvox, Jk 



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rHOtOW 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



I. 



THE VOYAGE. 



A life on the ocean wave, 

And a home on the rolling deep, 
Where the scattered waters rage, 

And the winds their revels keep. 



On Thursday, 28th May, 1874, at 9.20 
A. M., started the good steamship Illinois, from 
the port of Philadelphia, bound for Queenstown 
and Liverpool. 

The Illinois is a new vessel of over 3000 tons 
burthen, built in Philadelphia, and one of the 
four splendid vessels owned by the American 
Steamship Company. This is her fourth voy- 
age, and she carries a full cabin, besides a very 
large steerage list of passengers, and a heavy 
and valuable cargo : indeed, offerings of both 
passengers and freight, had to be refused on ac- 
count of want of accommodation for them. 

A considerable portion of the first day out is 
occupied in arriving at the Capes, and thus far 
navigation is smooth, and naught occurs to 
dampen the bright spirits of the company ; but 
on the second day, many prominent Philadel- 
phians find it necessary to go into retirement, 
there to speculate on the instability of human 
affairs, and other themes appropriate to such 
occasions. Sea- sickness is exhibited in various 
phases, according to the temperament of its 
victim. Most people are solemn and melan- 
choly under the affliction, and want to be let 
alone, giving sullen answers to the kind inqui- 
ries of their more fortunate friends ; others are 
jolly, treating it as a good joke, and surely no 
one can be jolly under more creditable circum- 
stances, as Mark Tapley would say. The man 
who can laugh although compelled, day after 
day, to cast up his accounts with nature, may 
be suspected to possess latent heroism sufficient 
to stand him in good stead, in many a tryino- 
situation : the acquaintance of such a man is 
worth possessing. If I were a bank director, 



the first inquiry I would make concerning the 
"stability " of a new customer, would be " How 
does he stand sea-sickness ? " There is no re- 
medy for sea-sickness ; but its effects may be 
mitigated, by the exercise of prudence in eating, 
and patience in enduring ; a good temper, and 
plenty of fresh air, are more efficacious than the 
most deleterious drugs. 

After spending two or three days in the state 
of mind supposed to have possessed Cardinal 
Woolsey, when commanded by Shakspeare to 
" look on this and after this, and then to break- 
fast with what appetite ye may," one begins to 
feel an interest in the arrival of the dining 
hour ; which is considered a hopeful sign. Four 
meals a day are served on these steamers, 
namely : breakfast at 8, (coffee at any time pre- 
vious,) lunch at 12, dinner at 4, and tea at 
7.30. The dinner is a vastly ceremonious 
affair, occupying nearly two hours, but is ex- 
cellent, even sumptuous. The only misfortune 
is, that those having any qualms are unable to 
sit it out, and generally retire to the fresh air, 
after getting their soup, still hungry, and there- 
fore discontented. The odor of the cooking, 
confined air of the saloon, and rolling of the 
vessel combined, make dining a real penance to 
weak stomachs. This rolling frequently occa- 
sions queer contretemps at table ; such as, de- 
livering one's tea into the lap of one's vis-a-vis, 
etc. An unexpected lurch, on one occasion, 
made a general slide of dishes to one side of the 
tables, and thence to the floor, spilling their 
contents on the way ; whilst the frantic attempts 
made by the guests, to hold half-a-dozen dishee 
at once, made a very laughable scene. Having 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



lost our lunch in this manner, we were imme- 
diately asked hj a waiter, who comprehended 
the situation, "Will you take a roll, Sir?" 
*' No, thank you," answered the Amateur, " I 
have just had one," Whereupon, the tables 
smiled, and recovered their equanimity. 

Speaking of the Amateur reminds us that we 
have neither introduced ourself nor explained- 
our " mission/' — 

Onee-upon-a-time a solitary horseman ar- 
rived upon an eminence, and paused to gaze 
upon the varied — 

But no ; we forgot that this initial chapter, 
written when half seas over, must be nautical if 
anything, and that a solitary equestrian could 
not probably have arrived there ; indeed, I 
doubt whether G. P. R. James could comfort 
ably get a horseman into such a situation, al- 
though I will admit, that if the thing were 
possible James would have done it. Perhaps he 
has done it ; I can only say, from personal 
knowledge of 299 of his solitary horsemen that 
none of them ever arrived upon an eminence in 
the Atlantic Ocean. Well then : — 

Once-upona-time the publishers of the " Am- 
ateur " appreciating the services rendered by its 
editorial staff in increasing the value of that in- 
teresting paper, (which is, as everybody knowl- 
the standard authority, and leading periodical 
of its kind in America,) graciously gave per- 
mission to the said staff to put shekels in their 
pouches, and wend their united ways, 

" Foreign countries for to see ; " 

upon the conditions hereunto annexed, namely : 

1. That the said staff absent itself not ex- 
ceeding the term of four calendar months, ex- 
tending from the date hereof ( 28th May). 

2. That all expenses of way -faring be charged 
to account of any firm in the music trade, save and 
except the said publishers of the " Amateur." 

Under these liberal and sagacious arrange- 
ments, the Amateur prepared to travel. First, 
let me describe the Amateur (personified) to 
you. He is an exceedingly prepossessing young 
man, both in appearance and manners, his 
only fault being his excessive modesty. With 
the ladies he is very popular, and it was on 
this account, principally, that he was selected 
by its worthy publishers, to conduct a paper 
which numbers among its readers, every lady of 
.taste and refinement in the land. In speaking 



of the Amateur hereafter, we will designate 
him simply by an initial capital, whilst the pa- 
per which is, as it were, the mere bantling of his 
mind, will be appropriately indicated by quota- 
tion markb''. 

Having given to the editor-in-chief that first 
position due to his official dignity, politeness re- 
quires that the lady-member of our staff, be 
next presented to our readers. Miss Araminta 
Squibbs is the accomplished editress of the 
fashion department of this magazine and is con- 
sidered prime authority upon the fripperies and 
appurtenances of feminine costume. We doubt 
not that our lady readers will anxiously search 
for her article in the present number and impa- 
tiently await its successors. Miss Squibbs 
knows a French bonnet when she sees it, and is 
not to be deceived in guipures, or guys either. 
All ladies have more or less temper, and Miss 
S. possesses, perhaps rather more than less. 
She says that the Amateur himself is decidedly 
headstrong (meaning headwrong?) ; we will not 
condescend to refute this accusation; but leave 
Miss Araminta to speak for herself hereafter, and 
our readers to judge between us. 

Our third associate, Junius, has long sat at 
the receipt of customs, where his beaming coun- 
tenance and elegant signature have proved ir- 
resistable in attracting feminine subscribers to 
the " Amateur." Junius is principally oonnec- 
tf'd with the business interests of oar journal ; 
still, he can write forcibly on occasions. He 
expressly disclaims, now and forever, the au- 
thorship of the celebrated letters which falsely 
bear his name, and further declares that he has 
never disputed Mark Twain's claim to the said 
authorship. 

Having thus introduced our dramatis personae, 
we will resume our narrative at that critical 
period, when literary high-art required this re- 
trospective digression. 

Steamer life is dull and monotonous. At first 
the appearance of a sail in the offing is hailed 
with enthusiasm, but its recurrence soon ceases 
to excite remark. A Providential iceberg, how- 
ever, proved a stronger attraction than a meal 
in the saloon. A meeting of passengers was 
called and the lucky discoverer immortalized by 
having his name conferred upon this estray 
from Greenland's Icy Mountains. As we pro- 
gress day after day, we find that being 
" Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



is no joke, and that it is not conducive either to 
harmony of the elements that internally vex us 
or to that external harmony which might other- 
wise soothe us into forgetfulness of all our woes. 
Music is pursued under difficulties it must be ad- 
mitted when it suddenly flies into the centre of 
the saloon, the pianiste, music stool, sundry 
bouquets, etc., being "completely carried away 
with it." 

We are nearing Queenstown, and note-books, 
note-sheets, letter-sheets, and manuscript litera- 
ture of various kinds abound, whilst pencils travel 
rapidly. And is there not good occasion for all 
this scribbling in retired corners ? Know ye not 
that there will soon be a mail, and that by prompt 
use thereof the dear ones at home may be informed 
ten days after receipt of telegraphic news of like 
teiior, that we have duly arrived? 

Sunday morning, June 7th, enthusiastic pas- 
sengers got up at 82 A. M. to look out for the 
Irish coast, " Do you see anything green ?" was 
the constant query, which was finally satisfac- 
torily answered in the affirmative. Soon the 
bold headland of Cape Clear with its rocky and 
barren frontispiece was reached, and for hours 
thereafter we slowly passed a rolling and rocky 
coast, devoid of tree or undergrowth and lying 
fully exposed to the broiling rays of the sun. 
"Oh, what a beautiful country," said a fellow 
voyager. " How I would like to build me a 
country house on one of these headlands !" 

We arrive abreast the harbor of Queenstown — 
which looks like a little country village, and 
discharge a portion of our passengers. 

The daily papers will inform you that the Illi- 
nois made excellent time to this port, namely : 
nine days and a few hours ; but do not believe 
them. The Amateur and all his staff are ready 
to make deposition before any justice of peace 
in the United States or New Jersey that it was 
the longest voyage on record. 

The run up the Irish Sea was delightful ; the 
water perfectly placid, the sky bright, the air 
fresh without being cold. We had broad day- 
light at 3.30 A. M., and when we took tea at 8 
P. M. in the saloon, below deck, no artificial light 
was required. An acquaintance wa-ote a letter 
by sunlight at 9.10 P. M. and even after 10 



o'clock it was barely dark ! — And the sunset ! 
It put the brightest conceptions of Turner to 
shame with its gorgeous sky of burnished gold 
and blazing crimson, surmounting a fog-bank of 
bluish -purple to cast a metalic shimmer over each 
ripple of the deep blue sea. 

On the preceding day, at dinner, a legal gen- 
tleman from Philadelphia made a speech eulo- 
gistic of the management of the steamship and 
of the endeavors of its officers to promote the 
comfort of the passengers. With the usual bun- 
combe of such occasions, he first wrapped himself 
in the American flag, and then praised Capt. 
Shackford for the profound knowledge of naviga- 
tion manifested by him during this trying voyage, 
now so successfully terminating. To the remo- 
test future ages the name of Shackford, the dis- 
coverer of Liverpool would descend ; covered with 
imperishable renown — the peer of Columbus, of 
Cabot, and of Vespucci. During this speech, the 
captain amused himself by eating an apple with 
the utmost deliberation, and, I am sorry to say, 
appeared to be no more appreciative of the mag- 
nificent periods of his learned friend than a boiled 
lobster. Other speeches not intended for ver- 
batim reporting, duly followed, and the proceed- 
ings were appropriately closed by three cheers 
for everybody concerned. A reporter has sent 
off Ms account of this happy occasion to two 
Philadelphia newspapers, but you are warned 
in advance not to confide in him ; the speeches 
that will be printed were never spoken, and 
especially the captain did not " in a few 
happy remarks," etc. Sunday evening, (we 
blush to write it of that sacred day,) the lady 
passengers convened privately " to drink a 
little lemonade," and " none of those horrid 
brutes," were admitted to their parlor. The 
proceedings were evidently exceedingly hilarious, 
and were prolonged into the night, far beyond 
the time when all good citizenesses should be in 
bed. We learn from Miss Araminta, (who had 
the audacity to participate actively,) that the 
pi'oceedings, speeches, etc., were a burlesque on 
the male performances of the preceding day. 
Thus did a miserable travesty terminate the 
fourth outward ocean voyage of the Illinois. 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



IT. 

LIVERPOOL, and on to LONDON. 



On Monday morning, June 8th, we steamed 
up the Mersey to Liverpool ; gazing with aston- 
ishment at its six miles of granite-faced docks, 
enclosing thousands of masts, covering two hun- 
dred acres, with fifteen miles of quays, and cost- 
ing nearly a hundred million dollars for con- 
struction. The entrances to these docks are 
closed by water-gates, which are only opened at 
high-water ; the tides rising here from fifteen 
to eighteen feet. Having landed by means oi 
a miserable tug-boat, we drove to the North 
Western Hotel, the terminus of the railroad line 
to London. This is a noble house, superbly 
fitted up, having a frontage of an entire square. 
Its clerks are ladies — which is quite usual in 
Europe. 

Some of the customs observed in England 
appear very strange at first to Americans. It 
is proper to ascertain in advance the prices of 
lodging and board, which are both graduated 
to suit one's purse. We dine in a magnificent 
apartment, (in very fine style), yet it bears the 
humble designation of coffee-room. An order 
for roast beef is not understood, and must be 
modified to " off joint." 

We sally out and see the town ; a most sub- 
stantially built town of smoke-begrimed stone 
and brick, containing half a million population. 
The streets are full of life, and of interest to 
strangers ; here are long lines of old clothes 
stores, the whole front covered with cast-off 
suits, whilst second-handed shoes encumber the 
narrow pavements. Then we pass provision 
stores, where salt and fresh meats are displayed 
in separate cuts of assorted sizes, qualities and 
prices. Some of these slices would not be con. 
sidered fit for dog meat in the United States. 
Thence to the cook shops, where genuine 
" weal-and-'ammers," pork-pies, etc., of al^ 
sizes, with and without upper-crust, are fur- 
nished ready-baked, cold and greasy, and fitter 
for an Esquimeaux than for a civilized human 
being. Everywhere one meets with anomalies ; 
the bakers, who sell flour and feed as well ; the 
grocer who calls himself dealer in provender ; 
the trimmings store disguised under the name 



of haberdashery ; the lumber dealer whose sign 
reads timber merchant ; the tavern keeper who 
is " licensed to sell liquors, to be consumed on 
the premises, and dealer in segars." The 
draught horses belong to an immense race, 
never seen in America ; they draw enormous 
carts furnished with great wheels of most sub- 
stantial weight ; an American horse would faint 
at the very sight of the loads which these giants 
haul with ease. The public conveyances are 
oddities ; omnibuses are frequently driven with 
three horses abreast, or by a span and a leader ; 
passenger railway cars have two rows of seats 
back to back in the centre, with an additional 
row on either outside of the car ; the hansom- 
cab, is a curious gig-like affair, with the driver 
perched aloft on a box behind it ; railway car- 
riages are short " vans" of three compartments 
each, either of which is entered from the sides 
and contains two rows of seats, so that one- 
half the passengers are compelled to ride back- 
wards. Railway accommodations and prices 
are graduated according to the amount of up- 
holstering in the compartments, thus : Bare 
benches and no carpet, is third-class and lowest 
cost ; upholstered seats, with easy cushioned 
back for sleeping, is second-class ; while the ad- 
dition of a carpet with the name and arms ot 
the R. R. Co. woven into its centre, constitutes 
the aristocratic first-class, costing more than 
American prices, with inferior accommodation. 
The Pulman Palace Cars have just been intro- 
duced by the Midland Railroad Co., and are 
highly appreciated by our English cousins. 

The Amateur, mindful of his dignified posi- 
tion, travels first-class in England, and con- 
siders the additional expense a cheap invest- 
ment for the consideration of the hotel and 
railway porters, cabmen and snobs. He in- 
tends, however, when reaching the more practi- 
cal continent, sometimes to travel second-class, 
and for three reasons : 

1st. The English snob who always goes first- 
class, must be endured at home, where he is " to 
the manner born,'' if one would study him ; but 
abroad, he is a disagreeable nuisance, and it is 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



9 



as well to avoid him, with his ubiquitous leather 
hat box, umbrella and telescope. 

2d. On the continent, the people or natives 
travel second-class, and are there to be studied. 
3d. Second-class is the cheapest, " which," 
Miss Araminta remarks parenthetically, " need 
not have been mentioned, as the first two reasons 
are sufficient." 

The principal objections to the European 
Railway arrangements are, that much room is 
wasted in their cars ; that half the passengers 
must ride backward ; that there is no chance 
whatever to gamble in prize candy boxes, or to 
patronize cheap literature while en route. It, 
must be confessed, however, that the English 
railway official is extremely polite and obliging 
and never commits the error of supposing him 
self the autocrat of all the Russias ; and that the 
precautions taken against accidents are admir- 
able. 

The public buildings of Liverpool are not 
numerous but good. St. George's Hall, devoted 
to musical purposes, is an immense building 
situated on a commanding site, and having an 
entire square of frontage. The entablature is 
supported by a row of Corinthian columns, and 
the approach is by a broad flight of steps. 
Upon the plaza in front of the Hall, are four 
immense stone lions, couchant, while on either 
side are equestrian bronzes of the Queen and 
Prince Consort. There is also a column over 
one hundred feet high, surmounted by a statue 
of Nelson, clad in a Roman toga ! The Free 
Public Museum and Library, Sir Wm. Brown's 
munificent gift to the citizens, contains some 
very good pictures, besides a large collection of 
casts from antique statuary. There is a small 
but choice collection of minerals, fossils, etc. 
The Exchange, the Municipal Buildings, the 
Great Market, a few very good churches, etc., 
complete the list of noticeable public edifices. 

On Tuesday, June 9th, we took the train 
starting from under the hotel roof, and in less 
than an hour, steamed froin Liverpool into the 
middle ages. The quaint town of Chester is re- 
markable for its antiquity, and appears to make 
a very respectable subsistence off of it. The 
ancient walls which were repaired, A. D. 70 ! 
may have been erected " once-upon-a-time" or 
even earlier, for aught we know to the contrary. 
Enfeebled by age, they are no longer able to 
stand alone, and have been sustained by exter- 



nal courses of the same material, (red sandstone) 
applied from time to time as required. In jus- 
tification of this, it could be alleged that the 
stone used in these reparations, was made quite 
as long ago as the original budding of the wall. 
This circumvallation forms a two mile prome- 
nade, anything but level on the top, curiously 
approached by inclined ways at various points. 
Two (genuine) old towers form outworks to 
this primitive fortification, which was built as a 
defence against the Welsh barbarians, and 
stood many a siege at their hands ; in our time, 
a ten-pounder cannon would knock daylight 
through such a wall in about ten minutes. 
Near to one tower, dignified by the name of 
The Castle, are some Roman remains ; a column, 
several badly damaged bases for ditto, fragment 
of bas-relief, representing general riding on a 
triumphal car, or a rail, or seated in a hansom- 
cab. The King Charles' Tower was used by 
that foolish but brave monarch, as a council 
chamber, and from the top thereof, he beheld his 
army defeated at Rowton Moor, by the round- 
heads. You can stand where King Charles 
stood for two pence, or you can look up at the 
tower for nothing. Araminta very sensibly re- 
marked, that the fee was not sufficient to give 
credibility to the legend, and Junius said that 
it was impossible to grow sentimental on two 
pence, so we gazed at the interesting object, 
free gratis. 

The Ancient Cathedral is undergoing "re- 
storation," and when finished, it will probably 
look more ancient than ever before. But you 
ought to see the hundreds of curious old houses, 
with projecting second-stories, tiled roofs, 
gabled to the street, innumerable queer chimneys, 
old beams and carved wood work, little leaden 
windows, tile floors, doorsteps almost worn in 
two by use, streets worn down several feet 
below the footways, the latter sometimes barely 
two feet wide. Then you ought to see the 
quaint footways erected over the tops of the 
houses, and covered by an additional roof to pro- 
tect the passengers from the rain, and provided 
with old stairs at each cross-street; and you 
ought to see also, how modern store keepers 
have erected beautiful stores in the rear of these 
passages, thus making of them an arcade, 
wherein to dispose of modern fabrics and luxu- 
ries. Yes, and you ought to see the crypt, now 
used by Blank & Co. as a wine vault. We dis- 



10 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



covered the localities of several " crypts," as ad- 
vertised on the walls of the houses — " the only 
genuine ;" but as our time was limited, we de- 
clined investing in an uncertainty. If, however, 
any ci'ypt proprietor will afford us conclusive 
evidence that he owns the Simon Pure article, 
we will insert said evidence in the " Amateur," 
at the usual advertising rates. 

Lastly, you ought to see the ancient modern 



houses ! For reader, Chester is a dear old 
fraud, and, probably by provision of its munici- 
pality, all the recently built houses are imita- 
tions of the ancient ones, and are finished by a 
very tlin antiquarian wash laid on at night, 
when there are no tourists looking on ! 

In the evening, we returned again to Liver- 
pool for a night's rest, and next morning set 
out for London. 



III. 

Our First Week in London. 



Having reached the railway terminus in Lon- 
don, we encountered an unexpected difficulty : 
it was the height of the season, and several hotels 
to which we applied could not accommodate us. 
However, we soon found very comfortable quar- 
ters at the Midland Grand Hotel, connected, 
(like the North-Western Hotel at Liverpool J, 
with the depot of a great railway line. Our 
house is situated on high ground in a beautiful 
portion of the city, and is itself one of the most 
beautiful buildings in London, apart from the 
public institutions. 

In Europe, dinners are served either a-la- carte 
or at table-d'-h5te at the ojition of the guest. 
At the lattei", one misses the variety of dishes 
prepared for an American hotel dinner, but as a 
rule, the cooking is better and one is served more 
promptly. The courses, ready carved on a large 
dish, are served around by the waiters, and each 
guest supplies himself in turn with such pieces 
as suit his fancy. An excellent dinner, cooked 
to order, and served hot and in liberal quantity, 
consisting of, say : soup, roast-beef, vegetables, 
and dessert, may be had for a dollar. Fair 
wines at 37|^ to 50 cents per pint bottle. 

The cab system established throughout Europe 
is a surprise and great convenience to Ameri- 
cans, for at home everything in the way of hired 
vehicles is a delusion and a snare. Those of us 
who have paid two and three dollars for a ride 
to the opera can scarcely realize that it costs but 
a shilling in London, whei'e the hackney coaches 
number several thousand. The cheapness and 
privacy of the cabs causes them to be used al- 
most exclusively by the ladies, who rarely 
patronize the omnibuses or the street cars. 
Another favorite mode of traveling is by the 
Metropolitan Railway, which tunnels the city in 



all directions, runs trains (underground) every 
three minutes from every station, and takes you 
rapidly anywhere you wish to go for a merely 
nominal price. Seventy millions of peoi)le were 
carried over this road last year. 

And this is how, with the above facilities, we 
saw London in two weeks ; not hurriedly, but 
at leisure, taking in ne more daily than we could 
properly label and pigeon-hole for future refer- 
ence. 

1st day. The Bank of England. This 
building of marble, is more vast than beautiful, 
covering nearly eight acres of ground. The 
bank issues no notes of less than five pounds 
($25) value, and never re-issues the same notes, 
but destroys them when returned to its counter. 
The current numbers on all notes in circulation 
are taken by the clerk when he pays them out 
to customers, and tradesmen invariably keep the 
names of those from whom they receive^or to 
whom they pay them, as well as the numbers 
thereof; and by this means missing or stolen 
notes are readily traced. Gold is paid out at 
the banks by weight, instead of by count 
which much expedites the transaction of busi- 
ness. From the Bank we went to the Royal 
Exchange, completed in 184:4, at a cost of 
nearly a million dollars. A statue of George 
Peabody, the late eminent American banker, is 
in the immediate vicinity. London Bridge, a 
modern structure costing a million dollars, spans 
the Thames upon the site of the picturesque histor- 
ical bridge of the same name, which was de- 
stroyed by fire. Over 100,000 persons cross 
London Bridge daily : the vast throng, with 
vehicles, merchandise and horses, make a very 
animated ensemble. Near-by is the Custom 
House, a large building facing the river, where- 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD 



11 



in are employed 2400 clerks ; for in London are 
collected nearly one-half the custom-dues of 
Great Britain ; Liverpool only taking one-fifth 
as much revenue. Keeping along Lower Thames 
Street, with its immense warehouses and crowded 
pavements, we pass Billingsgate, the last 
refuge of classical English, and where the fish- 
god is daily worshipped, to emerge in front of 
the great object of our day's expedition, the 
Tower of London. Gazing upon this vener- 
able structure, of which portions have endured 
for eight centuries, what a flood of recollections 
rushes over one ! Here, is almost an epitome of 
English history, done into stone and iron. We 
shudder at beholding the veritable Traitor's 
Gate, the Bloody Tower, where Richard III. 
murdered his nephews, (if he did it), the Bowyer 
Tower, where the Duke of Clarence suflTered 
a whimsical death by drowning in a butt of 
Malmsey, the prisons of Lady Jane Grey, of 
Anne Boleyn, of Raleigh, the block on which 
Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded. Then 
one passes through the Horse Armory, and, sur- 
rounded by a display of the weapons of all ages 
and nations, beholds the mounted effigies of En- 
gland's great monarchs and warriors clothed in 
their actual suits of armor. Ushers, clad in the 
picturesque costume of Henry Vlllths yeomen 
of the guard, (a scarlet coat, with the arms of 
England in gilt embroidery on the front and back) 
conduct you thus far, explaining the principal 
objects of interest by the way, including the 
dungeons with inscriptions on the walls, labori- 
ously cut by illustrious victims of despotism, and 
the armory, where sixty-five thousand improved 
arms are ready for instant use. Then, under 
the guidance of a reverentially loyal female, 
whose every tone betrays the awe and admira- 
tion which have penetrated her very soul, one is 
permitted to view the Royal Regalia, in an as- 
cending series from the Royal Club or Walking 
Stick, and the Royal Salt-Cellar (large enough 
for a two years' supply of that useful condi- 
ment), up to the Royal Crown, which it should 
he the acme of human felicity to behold, and 
which cost a million pounds! (The old lady's 
loyalty is $4,400,000 in excess of the truth in 
this item, but we forgive her. ) 

2d day. Regent's Park and Zoological 
Gardens. The Park contains somewhat less 
than five hundred acres, without much diversity 
of surface. It is planted with young trees, and 



numerous flower-beds, blooming profusely. Per- 
ipatetic photographers pervade the Park and 
sell their wares at popular prices. We were in- 
formed that our party would make a very nice 
group for a shilling, which was doubtless the 
truth. In the upper end of the park, a portion 
of ground, beautifully laid out in shrubbery and 
garden, is occupied by the London Zoological 
Society; and here, in capacious cages, contain- 
ing all in the shape of trees, shrubs, herbage 
and running water, necessary to make captivity 
endurable, are collected upwards of two thousand 
specimens of the animal kingdom, properly class- 
ified and named. So comfortably are they 
quartered, that the most shy animals breed here 
in confinement, and unequaled facilities are en- 
joyed by the scientific and the curious for be- 
coming acquainted with the manners and customs 
of the brute creation. The monkey-house ap- 
pears to be the chief centre of attraction, for 
here we see the wisdom and the follies of man- 
kind alike mimicked by clever artists, whose 
philosophy is alike indifferent to the praises or 
censures of their audiences. 

Sc? day. Past the government offices, including 
the Horse-Guards, where two sentinels, moun- 
ted, stand guard during four mortal hours, en- 
during in silence the jibes of the street-gamins, 
and on to Westminster Palace, appropriated 
to the uses of parliament. This building, the 
most magnificent in Europe, is modern in con- 
struction, replacing one destroyed by fire in 
1834. It is situated directly on the Thames, 
and partly built upon a foundation eight centu- 
ries old. The palace is of Gothic architecture, 
profusely ornamented with hundreds of statues 
and most elaborate carvings, and has a frontage 
of nine hundred feet. The cost of the building 
Js about eight million dollars. The carvings, 
gilding, paintings and frescoes of the interior, 
are rich beyond description. A popular guide- 
book mentions that " there are eighteen statues 
of barons between the windows w^io signed the 
magna-charta." But how the windows managed 
to affix their autographs, our friend Junius can- 
not exactly make out. Contiguous to the palace 
is Westminster Abbey. This historic pile in- 
cludes a number of chapels of various ages, 
portions of the building being twelve hundred 
years old — indeed, an interesting tomb of a 
Saxon King bears date, A. D. 637. Here are 
monuments of marble, granite, painted alabas- 



12 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



ter, bronze and gilt, to most of England's mon- 
archs, warriors and statesmen. In close prox- 
imity but peaceful quiet, until the Resurrection 
Day, repose those mortal foes Elizabeth and 
Mary. Many Kings and queens are simply 
buried beneath the pavement — their names only 
recorded upon it, to be worn out ere long by the 
tread of irreverent feet. "Look out," we said 
to Araminta, " do you know that you are tramp- 
ling on royalty ?" "I cannot help it, if I do," 
replied that independent young woman. The 
chapel erected by Henry VII is one of the larg- 
est in the Abbey and is very beautiful. The 
arched ceiling is elaborately carved in stone, 
and is the finest example of the kind in the 
world. 

The tombs of statesmen, warriors, philosophers 
and poets surround one during his progress 
through this great national Walhalla. The 
Poets' Corner, with the monuments to Shakes- 
peare, Milton, Handel, Southey, Dryden, Camp- 
bell, Garrick, Chaucer, Spencer, Cowley, etc., 
is a principal object of attraction. Then there 
are monuments erected at the public expense, 
(too often a very late recognition,) to the virtues 
and prowess of the great men, who have made 
England what she is. Here too, looking all the 
meaner in the midst of the great and the worthy, 
are the pretentious monuments of the rich and 
ambitious, who have bought place (for even 
place in Westminster Abbey is purchasable) in 
the company of those with whom they never 
dared to associate whilst living. The monarchs 
of England and their consorts are always 
crowned in the Abbey and under the plain wood- 
en coronation chair is placed the stone from- 
Scone, upon which the Scottish kings used to be 
crowned. They brought it from Ireland, where 
it had served a similar purpose for many centu- 
ries, ante-dating the Christian era. When Ed- 
ward I conquered Scotland, he brought away 
this stone, because the Scots -believed tliat who- 
ever was crowned upon it would reign over 
them. Subsequently, many unsuccessful at- 
tempts Vv^ere made by the Scotch to recover pos- 
session of this precious historical relic. 

The Abbey is a cruciform Gothic structure, 
about four hundred feet long by half as wide. 
No description can do justice to its magnificent 
vistas and hoary columns. We left it with great 
regret, for here, as in the Tower, are the ar- 
chives of history, and weeks might be profitably 
spent in their study. 



St. Paul's Cathedral, although a vast 
and imposing structure, struck us as being very 
much inferior in beauty to the Abbey. The 
choir, ho'fever, is magnificently ornamented^ 
and the organ doubtless a very fine one — but 
the acoustic qualities are not to be commended^ 
sound echoing fearfully through the lofty aisles^ 
The monuments in St. Paul's are principally 
those of naval and military heroes ; so that, as 
a writer has recently remarked, when the New 
Zealander of the future, excavating among the 
ruins of London, exhumes St. Paul's, he will 
assure himself that the English worshipped the 
god of war. 

\t}i day. (Sunday afternoon.) We took 
the train for the Royal Botanic Gardens at 
Kew, some nine miles out of the city. This is 
the largest conservatory and garden in the world, 
and contains many thousand species of plants 
from every clime, all systematically arranged 
and labeled. The chief glory of Kew is the 
great Palm House, a cruciform building con- 
structed entirely of iron and glass, with a 
rounded roof ; the entire length in either direc- 
tion being 375 feet, while the central portion has 
an elevation of 63 feet. The vistas within this- 
house are magnificent, and the visitor, upon 
gazing in every direction upon the giant palm- 
growths may imagine himself transported into 
the midst of a luxuriant tropical forest — some 
of the trunks attaining sixty feet in height. 
The houses devoted to the Temperate Ferns,^ 
the Tropical Ferns, the Orchidaceiu, and the 
Cactacea?, are each large and well-filled with 
forms and blooms. The great water-lily (Vic- 
toria Regia) spreads its giant leaves, sufficiently 
large to float a child, upon the surface of a huge 
basin of water, which contains numerous other 
water-plants. Then there are three very in- 
structive museum buildings stored with vegetable 
products, both in their natural state and as 
transformed by mechanical processes into articles 
of food, and raiment, and use for man. Many 
new species of plants bloom first for the eyes 
of science at Kew Gai'dens, the seeds being 
brought hither by travelers from distant lands. 
The establishment, which comprises seventy- 
five acres, is presided over by Sir William 
Hooker, assisted by numerous botanists and 
gardeners, and is maintained at the expense of 
the government. The gates to its beauties are 
always open, without price, to the people. 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



13 



bth day. Temple Bar, the ancient city gate 
whose arches still span the Strand, is a building 
of historic interest, being the badge of London's 
freedom. Even at this day, the ponderous old 
gates, ever open for the ebb and flow of com- 
merce, are closed at the approach of the sovereign, 
and only opened for her entrance into her an- 
cient city, after her request for admittance has 
been granted by the Lord Mayor. Near-by are 
the ancient Temple Inns and Church, vener- 
able structures once the dwelling-places of the 
Military Monks, whose name they bear, but now 
sacred to the law. Fleet Street and the Strand, 
full of business life and showy stores, soon 
bring us to Trafalgar Square, with its foun- 
tain. Nelson monument and lions. Facing the 
square is the National Picture Gallery, a 
large but not beautiful building, finished in 1838, 
at an expense of half-a-million dollars. The col- 
lection embraces about six hundred paintings of 
the Italian, Spanish, French and Flemish Schools, 
including many undoubted old masters, such 
as Raphaels', Corregios', Rubens', Murillos', 
Titians', Guidos', Rembrandts', acquired at great 
expense. We anticipated much pleasure, in 
gazing upon such a large collection of celebrated 
paintings, but we were much disappointed : find- 
ing out, before long, that the old masters, with 
rare exceptions, are old humbugs. It requires 
all the enthusiasm of the antiquarian to see great- 
ness in the glaring colors and stitT, ungainly figures 
and want of perspective which characterize these 
so-called gems. The rooms devoted to the Tur- 
ner collection contain many of his best pictures, 
and not a few of those which he painted alter he 
became afflicted with that color-blindness, which 
has resulted in so much bewilderment t j the critic. 
Some of these pictures are dreadful, rainbow- 
hued daubs, representing anything your imagi- 
nation can make out of them. A few good Land- 
seers' and other English artists, and a host of 
beautiful Dutch pictures, are well worthy in- 
spection. 

In the evening we went to the Drury Lane 
Opera House, to hear the second performance 
of Balfe's posthumous opera, "The Talisman." 
The exterior of the theatre is not prepossessing 
although dignified by the title of Royal and 
guarded by red-coated soldiers. The house is 
about the same size as the Arch Street Theatre, 
in Philadelphia, but there is probably not a 
variety or minstrel hall in the City of Broth- 



erly Love which does not surpass it in beauty 
and comfort. The floors are worn and patched, 
the coverings of the very narrow seats, old and 
torn, and their straight backs, give the occupants 
aches in about ten minutes. The auditorium 
is insufliciently lighted by a very old-fashioned 
chandelier, side lights with glass lustres and foot- 
lights separately furnished with glass chimneys. 
The ceiling is elegantly frescoed with white 
paper or whitewash, we could not justly detect 
which. Into this enclosure are driven the victims 
of fashion, there to expiate their sins by four 
hours of agony. When we gazed upon the in- 
struments of torture preserved in the Tower, we 
felt thankful that the time for their use had passed 
away ; but more ingeniously contrived is the 
modern instrument of agony, the opera-chair 
into which, fashion squeezes perspiring and 
aching humanity. A few privileged people only, 
enjoy the use of two rows of miserable little 
boxes, reminding one of nothing else so much 
as the oyster stalls of some cheap restaurant, 
and for these eligible situations, are paid prices, 
far exceeding the highest rates charged for ad- 
mission in America. In the lower part of the 
house, no gentleman is admitted unless he wears 
a dress coat and white cravat, and the ladies 
cannot wear bonnets, and generally, do not wear 
dresses long enough at the upper end ; and oh, 
such colors! The one word, exactly descriptive 
of English taste in dress, is decidedly "loud." 
The man who shows your seat, and hands you 
a programme, expects a shilling for the service, 
and by the time you are are all aches, the very 
respectable orchestra of sixty-seven performers, 
commences the symphony ; the conductor. Sir 
Michael Costa, finding it necessary to empha- 
size his beat upon his desk, more i'requently 
than usual in America. Anon, the ugly, old 
green-and-white curtain rolls up, and you are 
transported into the Eastern Desert. We will 
not describe the plot of the opera now, but at a 
future period, will endeavor to do it ample jus- 
tice ; for it has come to stay, and will cross the 
Atlantic in due time. The numerous chorus 
was very effective, the auxiliaries well-trained, 
the scenery, the properties and dresses superb — 
the ensembles being quite as excellent as the 
exceptionable manner in which Strakosch pre- 
sented Aida and Lohengrin to us, last season. 
The opera is founded on Scott's romance. The 
Talisman, and its striking situations have af- 



14 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



forded excellent material for librettist and com- 
poser. The two principal roles are entrusted to 
Nilsson and Campanini ; sufficient guarantee of 
finished singing and acting. Musically, II Tal- 
ismano is as far in advance of the Bohemian 
Girl as Verdi's Aida is of his Trovatore, and it 
is quite as striking an example of the progress 
of musical taste of late years. Although we 
paid heavy prices for secured seats, we were 
glad to vacate them after the first act, and retire 
to the rear, where we could rest ourselves by 
standing up. From this vantage point, we 
watched with infinite amusement, the natives 
served in their seats, with ices, cakes and drinks, 
and some of the ladies taking strong pulls from 
good-sized pocket-flasks. At midnight, we re- 
turned to our hotel, resolved to criticize the 
London Operas hereafter, from the outside. It 
is but fair to add, that a friend who went to the 
Covent Garden Opera House, found that estab- 
lishment to be much better, and more comfort- 
ably fitted up, although much inferior to our 
Philadelphia Academy. 

Gth day. Crystal Palace at Sydenham. 
This magnificent structure occupies an elevated 
site in the midst of its own beautifully planted 
grounds, and commands a lovely and extensive 
view. AVithin, are very extensive technological, 
fine arts and natural history collections, and — 
a principal feature — suites of rooms, decorated 



in the various orders of architecture, Egyptian, 
Greek, Roman, Moorish, (the Alhambra), By- 
zantine, Medieval, etc. These are elaborately 
ornamented, and contain statuary, bas-reliefs, 
monuments, frescoes, etc., of their various styles 
and periods, being copies of the most celebrated 
antiques. The palace also contains several 
beautiful fountains, many exotic plants, a palm- 
house, orangery, two concert rooms and a theatre, 
where English opera is frequently performed for 
a shilling admission. The great concert-room is 
fitted up with an immense organ, and stage for 
several thousand singers, and here is to be held, 
within a few days, the Handel Triennial Fes- 
tival, which is to last for several days. Four 
thousand singers and instrumental performers, 
under the conductorship of Sir Michael Costa, 
will assemble on this occasion. 

A large portion of the palace is rented to 
London dealers, who here exhibit and sell their 
goods, making brilliant displays. Ample re- 
freshment and dining rooms are provided, and 
access from London is obtainable every few 
minutes, by two railways. On the day of our 
visit, there was a grand orchestral concert, at 
12 o'clock, and another at 3.30 P. M., each 
consisting of seven numbers ; and a performance 
on the Great Organ, at 5.45 P. M., besides other 
entertainments ; all for the single admission 
price of one shilling. 



IV. 

Our Second Week in London. 



On Wednesday, June 17 tk, we visited the 
British Museum, a noble Grecian building, 
with a front of 370 feet, and a good sized plaza 
before it, which much enhances its appearance. 
The edifice is two stories in height, and a large 
portion of the upper floor is devoted to the 
Zoological Museum, which is large and^well ar- 
ranged. The mammalia, reptiles and fishes are 
particularly noticeable for their completeness ; 
but Americans, and especially Philadelphians, 
will be interested to learn that in at least two de- 
partments of zoology, namely : ornithology and 
conchology — the collections of the Academy of 
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia are far greater 
and more valuable. Probably we possess in 
Philadelphia, in either of these important de- 
partments, nearly double the number of species 



and specimens that are contained in this national 
museum, reputed to be the largest in the world. 
The mineralog'cal collections are very rich and 
extensive ; but the fossils disappointed us, al- 
though there is a skeleton of the Mastodon of 
North America, a Glyptodon, the cast of a 
Megatherium, etc. 

The most interesting portion of the museum 
is that devoted to the very extensive collections 
of Assyrian, Egyptian, Pha'nician, Grecian, 
and Roman antiquities. These include originals 
or casts of the most famous statuary, the colossi 
and bas-reliefs excavated from the ruins of 
Nimroud by Layard, numerous Egyptian statues, 
bas-reliefs and frescoes, the Elgin collection of 
marbles from the Acropolis at Athens, etc. 
There are also many thousands of useful and 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



15 



ornamental articles, seals, rings, bronzes, wares 
of pottery, china, glass, ivory, iron, textile fab- 
rics ; all of which testify to the high civilization 
attained by the Assyrians, Egyptians and Phoe- 
nicians, many centuries ago. Here is also the 
famous Rosetta stone bearing the same inscrip- 
tion in three languages, namely : Egyptian, 
Demotic and Greek, by the aid of which, the 
Egyptian hieroglyphics were rendered translat- 
able. Next after the antiquities, follow modern 
ethnological collections illustrative of the habits 
and civilization of the Esquimaux, Indians, 
Polynesians, Malays, etc. There are also ex- 
tensive remains of the pre-Adamitic cave and 
lake dwellers of Europe. 

Connected with the museum are several spec- 
ial libraries of great value, including thousands 
of rare and curious manuscripts, autographs, and 
prints. The centre of the quadrangle is occupied 
by the New Reading Room, a m,agnificent circu- 
lar apartment, one hundred and forty feet in 
diameter, surmounted by a dome over one hun- 
dred feet high. This room contains desks and 
accommodations for three hundred readers, and 
the library, placed in wall cases, includes over 
one million volumes, and is the largest in the 
world. Both museum and library are the prop^ 
erty of the government, which expends half a 
million dollars annually for their maintenance, 
and employs over three hundred custodians. 
The collections are exhibited daily, free of cost, 
to the public, and every facility is granted to 
students and readers. 

After visiting the Museum, the Amateur 
took a short constitutional through classic by- 
ways and modern thoroughfares, meeting at 
every corner familiar names endeared by many 
a recollection of the pages of famous romancists 
and historians. High Holborn, with its beauti- 
ful stores, Chancery Lane, the antique buildings 
and gardens of Lincoln's Inn, Queen Victoria 
Street, a new thoroughfare with magnificent 
buildings just erected, then through Cheapside 
to the great Post Office, Aldersgate Street, 
and so on, back to our hotel, a walk teeming with 
interest and revealing more of London life than 
can be learned from books in years, or acquired 
by a week of carriage drives. 

Thursday, June X'^tli, we devoted to walks in 
the same manner ; seeing Oxford Street and 
Regent Street with their fine stores, the dwell- 
ings in the aristocratic West-End, and the bor- 
<lers of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. 



On Friday, the railroad conveyed us twenty 
miles away to the interesting old town of Wind- 
sor, and its magnificent Castle, the favorite res- 
idence of royalty. Windsor Castle is an 
enormous battlemented structure, situated upon 
an imposing height, from which is obtained one of 
the most charming views in Great Britain. The 
buildings, which have been added to by various 
sovereigns, including the present Queen, were 
commenced by W^illiam the Conqueror eight 
centuries ago. The state apartments (which 
are freely shown during the absence of the royal 
family^ are very beautiful. The walls are 
paneled with exquisite Gobelin tapestry, and 
the ceilings magnificently frescoed and carved ; 
work executed during the reign of Charles II. 
There is a room filled with portraits by Vandyke, 
another with exquisite landscapes by Zucharelli ; 
there is also some fine statuary, but the furni- 
ture and ohjets de Vertu are far surpassed in 
many a Philadelphia drawing-room. One of 
the great sights of Wind'^or Castle is St. George's 
Chapel, with walls crumbling with age, and 
choir resplendent with carving, coloring and 
gilding. The Long Walk, a straight avenue 
three miles in length, bordered by noble trees, 
leads from the Castle to the Great Park. 

We were much incommoded in journeying to 
Windsor, by the crowds of passengers going to 
Ascot (five miles from the Castle j to attend the 
races. The English people are much addicted 
to the so-called " athletic sports " of horse rac- 
ing, prize-fighting, yachting, rowing, cricketing 
and hunting, and to the loud manners, bad lan- 
guage, drinking and betting, which invariably 
attend such gatherings. These objectionable 
pursuits are only patronized in the United States 
by a small class, the "fast" and the vulgar; 
but in England, we grieve to say it, all ranks of 
society are infected, the ladies as much so as the 
men. Royalty and fashion attend the race- 
courses and the fair owners of exalted names 
excitedly bet on the result, and cultivate the 
slang of the stables. It is the unanimous opin- 
ion of our staff that John Bull is sadly deficient 
in spirituality, and also in what may be termed 
<' gumption." Of course, there are numerous 
exceptions, but they only serve to prove the jus- 
tice of our strictures by the contrast which they 
exhibit to the national ill manners. 

On Saturday morning, June 20t/i, we took a 
pedestrian tour, visiting Covent Garden Market, 
(certainly one of the sights of the metropolis) 



16 



THE AMATEUK ABROAD. 



and thence again along the Strand, through Tem- 
ple Bar, past Old Baily, Newgate Prison, the 
Post Office, and so on to the venerable Guildhall. 
This building was commenced in 1411, by con- 
tributions of the guilds or trades-corporations of 
London. The central hall is 150 feet long, by 
50 feet wide, and contains, on a gallery at one 
end, the two famous painted wooden statues of 
the giants, Gog and Magog, formerly carried in 
the Lord Mayor's processions and immortalized 
by Dickens. Thence we wended our way once 
more eastwardly, past the Tower and to the 
great Docks. In London, (as in Liverpool) 
the larger vessels are floated at high tide into 
these spacious docks, wherein the water is re- 
tained by means of gates. The surrounding 
quays are covered with immense warehouses, 
and the whole vicinity is the scene of great com- 
mercial activity. 

In the afternoon we attended a grand concert 
at the Floral Hall, an adjunct to the Covent 
Garden Opera House ; the artists being the com- 
pany there engaged. These Saturday matinees 
are very fashionable, and the admission quite 
high, yet the seats provided for the audience 
are cane-chairs with perfectly perpendicular 
backs, and a programme cannot be obtained ex- 
cept by paying a shilling to the usher. The 
concert surpassed anything of the kind we had 
ever heard in America, both in quality and quan- 
tity ; embracing over thirty operatic selections, 
consisting of solos, duetts, trios, chorusses, and 
lasting fully three hours! All the principal 
singers and the full chorus of the opera took 
part, including Mdlle. Albani, who sang beauti- 
fully, "O luce di quest anima," from Linda, 
Mdlle. Angeri, and Mr Maurel (the latter well- 
known in America); but the honors of the occa- 
sion wei'e fairly carried off by Adelina Patti, 
who sang a Valse by Visetti, the Grand Aria 
from L'Etoile du Nord, Comin' thro' the Rye, 
etc. Patti is a veiy beautiful, lively, and co- 
quettish little creature, and sings the most diffi- 
cult music without an effort; her voice being 
clear as crystal, and very sweet withal. I im- 
agine that in such roles as Rosina in " The Bar- 
ber," or Annetta in " Crispino," she would ex- 
cel, but in tragic parts she is necessarily vastly 
inferior to Nilsson, who is the greatest actress 
on the operatic stage. Among the most notable 
features of the concert was the singing of the 
two arias for the Page in " Pluguenots," by 



Mdlle. Scalchi, whose lower register is truly 
phenomenal for sonority and richness. The 
chorus acquitted itself finely, in several nymbers. 
Miss Ararjiinta, who was present at the concert 
(of course) seemed to give quite as much atten- 
tion to the audience as to the singers, and we 
ascertained that the cause was the brilliancy of 
costuming and violent contrasts of color indulged 
in by the ladies. We mildly suggested that they 
looked like peacocks, but were withered by the 
retort that peacocks are birds of the male per- 
suasion, whilst the attire of peahens is always 
simple and in good taste, and their demeanor 
becomingly modest. Araminta confessed, how- 
ever, that she never saw such a rainbow-hued 
assemblage before, not even at an evening re- 
ception. She was destined to see it surpassed 
the very next day. 

On Sunday morning we walked through some 
of the streets inhabited by the poorer classes, 
out to Primrose Hill and returned to our hotel 
by way of the Regent's Park. In some of the 
small streets we traversed, we found the stores 
all open, the curb-stones lined with vans of cher- 
ries, strawberries, greens, ginger-beer, snails, 
(one penny a plate, ) crabs, shrimps, ice cream, 
(you drink it from a wine-glass, price one penny 
— no spoons), trimmings, etc. The dealers in 
old clothing, butchers and bakers were all doing 
a thriving business on this Sabbath morning, 
ibr John had received his wages on the Saturday 
evening, and in most cases, after discharging 
his tavern score for the week, there is a little 
change left for the wife and children to starve 
on till the following pay-day. Common and 
dirty as the dwellings of the poor are, you rarely 
pass a house which does not exhibit a few flow- 
ers in its windows, or in the area. These 
flowers seem to flourish and bloom very freely 
in the atmosphere of London, and the sight of 
them must bring peace and consolation to many 
a wearied soul. The universal love of flowers, 
exhibited alike by the poor in their humble col- 
lections, and by the wealthy in the scjuares and 
terraces, of which hundreds exist in the city, is 
one of the most cheering sights of the metro- 
polis. The London "square" is an enclosed 
garden kept up by the annual contributions of 
the families living around it, and the " terrace," 
is a long garden extending in front of a row of 
houses, and maintained in the same manner. 
Most of the houses of the rich are built with 
reference to one or the other of these plans. 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD 



17 



The afternoon of Sunday we spent in Hyde 
Park, viewing the foreign office, St. James' and 
Buckingham Palaces, etc. Hyde Park is a 
beautiful pleasure-ground, filled with magnifi- 
cent old trees, and laid out into drives and walks 
which are the resort of the gaiety and ostentation 
of the city. Near the lake called the Serpen- 
tine, is a favorite promenade of the ladies, who 
pace back and forth to exhibit their astonishing' 
toilettes to the several hundred critics, who, by 
payment of a penny each, occupy parallel rows 
of chairs facing the show. The scene was very 
gay, but exceedingly ludicrous, and we enjoyed 
it highly for about an hour. We doubt whether 
Miss Araminta would admit ten tasteful toilettes 
out of the thousands which we saw. 

On Monday, Jane 22n6?, we went to the South 
Kenstngton Museum, a magnificent educa- 
tional institution, founded by Prince Albert, 
in 1852, on the property purchased with the sur- 
plus funds resultingfrom the Crystal Palace Exhi- 
bition of 1850. The buildings now completed 
and open for exhibition, study and lecture 
purposes, contain immense collections of plaster 
casts from statuary, jewels, porcelain, arms and 
armor, carvings in ivory, wood, etc., old furni- 
ture, musical instruments, tapestry, embroidery, 
costumes, in fact whatever is curious or interest- 
ing in the arts or manufactures. In the galle- 
ries are contained the modern English paintings, 
deposited here by the National Gallery, and far 
sur[*assing, in beauty and real value, the collec- 
tion of "old masters," still contained in the lat- 
ter institution. A large lot of ground has been 
secured in immediate juxtaposition with the 
present buildings, for the erection of a natural 
history department of the museum. 

In this neighborhood is the Royal Albert 
Hall of Arts, an immense amphitheatre, 'en- 
closed by a dome roof, and capable of seating 
fifteen thousand people. It is frequently used for 
concert purposes, including a matinee by the 
Drury Lane Opera Company every Saturday 
during the season. 



In front of the Hall, and within the railings 
of Hyde Park, is the Albert Memorial 
Monument, "erected by the Queen and her 
people as a tribute of respect for the virtues of 
the Prince Consort." It is a beautiful Gothic 
structure, richly painted and gilded ; its base is 
approached on four sides by flights of steps, 
having at each angle an emblematic marble 
group, representing respectively, Europe, Amer- 
ica, Asia, and Africa. The sumptuousness of 
the monument is worthy of the great nation 
which has built it, and its details of sculptures 
and inscriptions fitly commemorate the innumer- 
able unobtrusive services rendered to his people 
by a gentleman who was too modest and too 
good to achieve greatness in history. 

In the evening we went to the Criterian The- 
atre, a beautiful little place, fitted up with blue 
satin and gold. The play was " An American 
Lady," something in the Dundreary style, bnt 
immeasurably superior to that stupid production. 
It contains many very excellent witticisms and 
hits our English friends quite as frequently and 
as hard as the Americans. It will doubtless 
cross the Atlantic in due time. 

And thus ended our two-weeks' stay in the 
great city, a period, alas ! but too short for our 
purpose, yet all we could aflord to devote to it. 
We have only sketched for you the more promi- 
nent objects of interest — but we were constantly 
in the streets, traversing them in all directions, 
until they became familiar to us, with their shops, 
and their busy life constantly ebbing and flowing 
in the pursuit of wealth or pleasure. We did 
not see sights throngh the spectacles of B«- 
decker or Murray, or any other guide-book, and 
therefore, we hope that we have been able to con- 
vey to you unprejudiced impressions of what we 
saw. When next the curtain shall rise, 'twill 
reveal a very different scene, where striking 
contrasts of manners and customs, will, Ave hope 
give that zest to our narrative which our homely 
pen refuses to impart. 



18 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



V. 

Among the Dutch. 



On Tuesday, June 23d, we journeyed to 
Harwich (pronounced Herridge) and thence by 
steamer over the German Ocean to Rotter- 
dam, which we reached on Wednesday morn- 
ing, after a very smootli passage of twelve hours' 
duration. As we intended to go on to Amster- 
dam the same day, it was unnecessary to go to 
a hotel, so we availed ourselves of the baggage 
storage office — a very useful adjunct of European 
railroad stations — where a check is given for 
baggage, and a charge of about two cents per 
package, daily, is made for taking cai'e of it. 

Rotterdam is an odd-looking, busy town, with 
rows of Elizabethan houses, having walls lean- 
ing out of perpendicular. At first we supposed 
that the piles on which the houses were built 
had settled, thus causing the walls to lean out 
at the top, but we soon discovered that new 
structures, even when in course of erection, 
shared the same peculiarity. Holland enjoys 
a very damp, blustery, cold climate in winter ; 
the snow is driven against the brick walls and 
adheres to them, so the sagacious Dutchmen 
facilitate the descent of the watery element by 
building their walls to lean outwards at the top. 
In this, as in many other instances, utility ob- 
tains a ready preference over beauty, and the 
result is very bizarre, particularly as there 
seems to be no general agreement of opinion 
-as to the best angle of inclination to use in 
building. 

The canals of Rotterdam, penetrating the 
city in every direction, are its highways of 
trade, but they are generally bordered by nar- 
row pavements which are used by foot-passen- 
gers. Directed by a large square lower, which 
far over-topped the houses, we crossed several 
<;anak by drawbridges, and then a picturesque 
square wherein a market of country produce 
was being held, and soon arrived in front of 
the venerable Old Church, whose chimes rang 
out the Wedding March from Lohengrin pre- 
vious to striking the hour. The learned criti- 
cism on Wagner's music "that it is in advance 
of our time" is thus practically illustrated for 
us by the Dutch. Of course boats are princi- 



pally used for transporting merchandise within 
the city, and horses are at a discount, but the 
phrase "an idle dog" has no significance in 
Rotterdam, for the canine species is harnessed 
singly or in pairs to funny little carts contain- 
ing magnificent strawberries and cherries, brob- 
dignagian vegetables and saltwater mussels. 
The owners of these peripatetic huckster shops, 
both men and women, go clattering along the 
streets in uncouth-looking wooden shoes — which 
are generally unpainted, save by the mud, al- 
though we did see some of them painted a lively 
green. It is the Hollander of whom it is said by 
the immortal Mother Goose, "and she shall make 
music wherever she goes." Our sympathies 
were quickly drawn towards these phlegmatic 
and philosophical people upon beholding their 
neat and comfortable dwellings, each in the 
midst of a carefully cultivated flower garden, 
having its collection of beautiful rose bushes 
trimmed up like trees, and its bower of ease 
wherein the lord of the family can leisurely con- 
template the works of nature whilst he colors 
his inseparable meerschaum, — the latter, ac- 
cording to a malicious writor, being the princi- 
pal occupation of the male population. 

A rapid ride over a country as flat as a pan- 
cake soon brought us to the great commercial 
city of Amsterdam, where we found comfortable 
quarters at the beautiful Amstel House, built on 
eight thousand piles, and commanding an exten- 
sive prospect of the city. Directly under our 
windows lay the broad surface of the Amstel 
carnal, glistening in the light of the full moon. 
A solitary fisherman was plying his vocation by 
means of a scoop-net, and the waters lazily 
plashed against the sides of some dark boats. 
On the farther side of the canal arose the grace- 
ful glass and iron pi'oportions of the Crystal 
Palace, embowered in trees and shrubbery, and 
-brilliantly illuminated, and from its garden the 
fresh breeze wafted the sweet odor of roses, and 
the grand strains of the " Benediction of the 
Daggers," from the opera of Huguenots, per- 
formed by a powerful and excellent orchestra. 
Stretching away into the background were rows 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



19 



of quaint houses and ribbons of water — the lat- 
ter duplicating on their surface the lights of the 
street lamps which border them. The whole 
eifect was very beautiful, and reminded one of 
those dreamy moonlight pictures of Venice 
which artists delight to paint for us, — perhaps 
because we delight to buy them. 

Seen by daylight, Amsterdam is picturesque 
enough, but its life is prosaic and busy, and a 
gondola with serenaders aboard would be as 
much out of place on its broad but crowded 
canals as would a Dutch lugger on the romantic 
waters of Venice. Built on piles, and covering 
ninety small islands which are connected by 
three hundred bridges, the population of three 
hundred thousand souls, and several thousand 
awkward Dutch windmills, is necessarily hud- 
dled together into narrow quarters. Some of 
the streets do not exceed five feet in width, and 
the opposite houses, having projecting upper sto- 
ries, almost meet at their roofs. 

Attempting to purchase a few articles, we 
found ourselves launched into a sea of pecuniary 
difficulties previously unimagined. Quotations 
were made to us indiscriminately in shillings, 
francs, guilders, florins, thalers and their sub- 
divisions, and we soon acquired in change a 
pocketful of vile trash, which required close in- 
spection to select the so-called silver pieces from 
the coppers. The legal currency of the realm 
is good enough, but the realm is not large 
enough to make its own currency exclusively 
-current. 



Among the principal sights of Amsterdam is 
the National Gallery, containing several hun- 
dred pictures by Dutch artists — mostly old mas- 
ters. The best painting in the collection is Van 
der Heist's " Civic Guard of Amsterdam," a 
work of genius in comparison with which Rem- 
brandt's "Night Watch," placed in the same room, 
is utterly insignificant. In P. Potter's celebrated 
" Bear Hunt," one of the dogs (nearly as large 
a beast as the bear) is placed hors de combat by 
having a leg bitten off, bone and all, as cleanly 
as though it had been chopped by an immense 
cleaver. The poor beast stretches his bloody 
stump towards the spectators, a pitiful exhibi- 
tion of the painter's ignorance of bruinine denti- 
tion. Being informed that the Zoological Gar- 
den here was superior to that of London, we 
invested some time and money in a visit. There 
is certainly a very large collection of animals, 
and the grounds are very beautifully laid out 
with flower beds and shrubbery, but the London 
Garden is incomparably the finest. 

The other sights of Amsterdam we only 
viewed exteriorly, for if one were to attempt 
to see all the cathedrals, museums, galleries, 
gardens and palaces in Europe the inevitable 
result would be that obfuscation of mind which 
compelled a recent tourist, when asked whether 
he had seen the Vatican, to turn to his courier 
and repeat the question. It is much better to 
select a half dozen of the best and most cele- 
brated of each class of sights and let the others 
go, spending the time, instead, in the streets, 
studying the people. 



The Rhine. 



On the morning of Friday, June 26th, we left 
the Dam on the Amstel, (whence comes Ams- 
terdam), and after an uninteresting journey of 
six hours, in very comfortable second-class cars, 
arrived in Cologne— a beautiful and thrifty 
fortified city of 125,(00 inhabitants. We put 
«p at the Hotel Disch, itself one of the curios- 
ities of the place, for its proprietor is an anti- 
quarian and has amassed great treasures of old 
pictures, furniture, pottery, etc., which not only 
encumber the halls and passages but even invade 



the chambers ; so that when one retires for the 
night he may unwittingly repose on the bed 
whereon Duncan took his last sleep, or where 
Desderaona suffered death. (A pleasant death, 
doubtless, if inflicted by Mr, Disch's downy 
coverings.) Portraits of ladies in ruffles and 
gentlemen in armor painted with that sublime 
disregard of perspective which characterized the 
palmy days of art ; rickety old bureaus, secre- 
taries, chests, suggestive of secret drawers and 
hidden treasure — these complete your bedroom- 



20 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



furniture and it is at your landlord's option to 
consign you to the twelfth, thirteenth or any 
other century. Cologne is a very ancient town, 
and its curious old churches and houses, its 
crumbling walls and picturesque city-gates well 
repay the inspection of the tourist. 

On Saturday morning, our first visit was paid 
to the world-renowned cathedral, commenced in 
1248, and still unfinished. It is an immense 
Gothic structure, five hundred feet in length, 
and the principal entrance is flanked by towers 
on either side, which, when completed, will be 
five hundred feet in height. The portals are 
most elaborately carved and the whole exterior 
is richly embellished with statuary. Within, the 
lofty arched ceilings, one hundred and sixty feet 
above the pavement, impart a sensation of 
solemn grandeur and of vastness which is much 
increased by the magnificent old stained glass 
windows. 

With Cologne are connected many of those 
medijeval legends, which having outserved their 
legitimate purposes, during the superstitious 
middle ages, now seem to do duty principally as 
the open sesame to the traveler's purse. As our 
party was not blessed with unquestioning faith, 
we avoided the guides, and thus escaped the 
legends and saved our money. It was after this 
manner that we omitted to visit the last resting 
place of those mythical individuals, " The Three 
Holy Kings of Cologne," and even the bones of 
the "Eleven thousand Virgins " (may their num- 
ber never decrease !) were not sufficiently attrac- 
tive to draw us into the crypts of St. Ursula. Men 
of science (deplorable skeptics that they are ! ) 
have called attention to the fact that these vir- 
gins belonged to more than one species, and that, 
on the evidence of the bones, many of them were 
lady horses when living. 

The streets of the city are generally narrow 
and devious, and the houses have high peaked, 
concavely sloping roofs of many angles. The 
stores are large and well stocked, and their win- 
dows display many articles of rich workmanship 
and elegant design — some of them entire novel- 
ties to us. Miss Araminta, who says she came 
to enjoj herself, and who imagines that the 
gratification of a voracious appetite is the chief 
of human felicities, goes into ecstacies at every 
table d'hote over the horrible compounds which 
these Germans serve up for consumption ; thus, 
roast beef, sliced lemons, salad with much oil and 



sweet stewed gooseberries constitute one dish ; 
another consists of sausages, peas, carrots, salad, 
sugar and nutmeg ; a third is roast veal, cauli- 
flower aiAl stewed cherries. .Tunius, for whom 
these dishes may be considered almost an ances- 
tral inheritance, says nothing, but partakes of 
every dish proffered him with a philosophical 
indiflference to its constituents, which has resulted 
in much increase of the flesh. Were it not for 
financial difficulties, the Amateur also, would 
probably wax fat ; but the constantly recurring 
necessity of translating English shillings into 
German thalers through the medium of Dutch 
florins, at varying rates of exchange, he finds 
much more debilitating than his usual winter's 
work of constructing new melodies from worn, 
out or forgotten material. 

Years ago, Cologne may have deserved the 
poetic but odorous imputation : 

Ye nymphs who reign o'er sewers ami sinks, 

The river Rhine, it is well known. 

Doth wash your city of Cologne ; 

But tell me, nymphs, what power divine 

Shall henceforth wash the river Hliiney 

But in these times it is both cleanly and neat 
and very musical withal; indeed it seemed like 
home to us when we heard a hand-organ in the 
street rendering the Beautiful Blue Danube 
Waltzes in that language Avhich is alike intelli- 
gible to all civilized men. , On Sunday morning 
we were awakened by the jangling of many bells, 
and sallying forth into the street, we beheld one 
of those gorgeous religious processions which 
are not vouchsafed to us in America. The streets 
were covered with evergreen and oak branches, 
the windows illuminated with wax candles, the 
door-ways the lamp-posts, the roofs dressed with 
gay flags and national devices. Along the princi- 
pal highways wound a procession, preceded by a 
brass band and containing many priests in their 
official robes and acolytes in white gowns, 
swinging censors of smoking perfumes. Numer- 
ous burning candles illuminated crucifixes 
crowned with flowers and magnificently em- 
broidered silk banners and streamers. As the 
procession halted in the centre of the vast open 
space before the cathedral where several thou- 
sand spectators were gathered, the general effect 
was very beautiful. 

After church, we went to the Public Museum 
and feasted our eyes on a truly extraordinary 
collection of ancient paintings of the Cologne. 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



21 



School. Here are numerous pictures by the great 
Rubens and other worthies which would be worth 
just their weight in old canvas if signed by any 
unknown name ; but then there are many very 
beautiful modern gems, well worthy of study. 
One of the latter pleased us particularly, because 
painted just eight years ago, it represented a 
Virgin and child done with the rich colors, the 
gilded back-ground and the general style of the 
"old masters," yet it preserved all the beauty of 
form and feature, all the fidelity to nature of 
modern art. Hung as it was in the midst of its 
ancient brethren, no stronger evidence of the 
progress of painting could be adduced than was 
presented by contrasting them. One of the latter, 
a crucifixion, has the heads of Christ and of the 
two thieves carved of wood, painted and attached 
to the surface of the canvas, producing an incon- 
gruous effect. In addition to the galleries, the 
Museum contains large collections of armor, coins, 
Roman antiquities, sculptures, etc. The full 
series of architect's drawings for the cathedral, 
including colored elevations, plans of the frescoes, 
the painted windows, details of ornamentation, 
etc., are also exhibited, forming a very inter- 
esting series. 

Sunday afternoon and evening we spent in 
the Zoological Garden, more for the purpose of 
studying the people, than the beasts ; the latter 
said to be more numerous than the London col- 
lection, certainly do not attain to half its size or 
interest. The gardens are approached by car- 
riage or omnibus, afoot or by steamboat, and as 
we expected, we saw thousands of happy people in 
holiday attire, enjoying themselves as best they 
might. Drinking was universal and participated 
in alike by mann, frau and kind — drunkenness, 
none whatever. The music was very good, in- 
cluding Suppe's Poet and Peasant Overture, 
Potpourri's of " Robert " and of "Maritana:" — 
in short, the selections were so familiar as lo 
lead us to believe thai; in musical taste, the Teu- 
tons are quite up to the American standard. 

June 29th. This morning we departed by the 
Rhine steamer, " German Emperor " for May- 
ence, a journey upwards of twelve hours in length. 
The steamer, one of twenty-six belonging to the 
same company, all engaged in the navigation of 
this noble river, is built and fitted up in Ameri- 
can style and furnished very comfortably. We 
anticipated much pleasure in this journey, and 
were not disappointed. At Bonn, the scenery 



first becomes mountainous, and thence, as far aa 
Bingen, we have an unequaled and ever- 
varying panorama of almost inaccessible moun- 
tains crowned with historic ruined castles and 
modern fortresses, of vine-clad slopes and ro- 
mantic gorges, of smiling valleys, of antique 
cities and towns, of chateaux built from the pro- 
duce of the terraced slopes, of velvety islets and 
of swift running, ever flashing river. 

At Konigswinter we approach tlie celebrated 
Dragon Rock, with its picturesque ruins whereof 
Byron so sweetly sings : 

" The Castled crag of Dracheufels 

Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine, 
Whose breast of waters broadly swells 

Between the banks which bear the wine, 
And hills all rich with blossomed trees, 

And fields which promise corn and wine, 
And scatteied cities crowning these, 

Whose far white walls along them shine, 
Have strewed a scene which I should see 

With double joy wert iho^l, with me." 

" And peasant girls with deep blue eyes, 

And hands which offer early flowers, 
Walk smiling o'er this paradise ; 

Above, the frequent feudal towers 
Through green leaves lift their walls of gray. 

And many a rock which steeply lowers. 
And noble arch in proud decay, 

Look o'er this vale of vintage bowers ,• 
But one thing want these banks of Rhine — 

Thy gentle hand to clasp in mine." 

*' The river nobly foams and flows, 

The charm of this enchanted ground, 
And all its thousand turns disclose 

Some fresher beauty varying round ; 
The haughtiest breast its wish might bound 

Through life to dwell delighted here ; 
Nor could on earth a spot be found 

To nature and to me so dear. 
Could thy dear eyes, in following mine, 

Still sweeten more these banks of Rhine." 

Crag after crag and ruin after ruin, each con- 
nected with some fanciful legend, succeed; and 
ere long we approach the renowned fortress of 
Ehrenbreitstein, the Gibraltar of the Rhine, 
standing several hundred feet above the river, 
and defended by four hundred pieces of cannon. 
It has accommodations for one hundred thousand 
men, and its construction cost the Prussian gov- 
ernment upwards of five million dollars. 

Near Bingen, on a small island, is a ruinous 
square tower, wherewith is connected a legend 
so beautifully rendered by Southey, that we are 
tempted to quote it entire : — 



22 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



"BISHOP HATTO. 

" The summer and autumn had been so wet, 
That in winter the corn was growing yet ; 
'Twas a piteous sight to see all around 
The grain lie rotting on the ground. 

" Every day the starving poor 

Crowded around Bishop Hatto's door, 
For he had a plentiful last year's store ; 
And all the neighborhood could tell 
His granaries werefurnish'd well. 

" At last Bishop Hatto appointed a day 
To quiet the poor without delay : 
He bade them to his great barn repair, 
And they should have food for the winter there. 

Rejoiced at such tidings good to hear. 
The poor folks flock' d from far and near ; 
The great barn was full as it could hold 
Of women and children, and young and old. 

" Then, when he saw it could hold no more, 
Bishop Hatto he made fast the door ; 
And while for mercy on Christ they call, 
He set fire to the barn and burnt them all. 

" I' faith, 'tis an excellent bonfire !' quoth he, 
'And the country is greatly obliged to me 
For ridding it, in these times foi'lorn, 
Of rats that only consume the corn.' 

" ,-50 then to his palace returned he, 

And he sat down to his supper merrily, 

And he slept that night like an innocent man : 

But Bishop Hatto never slept again. 

" In the morning, as he entered the hall. 
Where his picture hung against the wall, 
A sweat like death all o'er him came. 
For the rats had eaten it out of the frame. 

" As he look'd there came a man from his farm ; 

He had a countenance white with alarm. 
" My lord, I open'd your granaries this morn, 

And the rats had eaten all your corn.' 

" Another came running presently. 
And he was as pale as pale could be : 
' Fly ! my lord bishop, fly ,' quoth he ; 
' Ten thousand rats are coming this way ; 
The Lord forgive you for yesterday !' 

" I'll go to my tower on the Rhine,' replied he ; 
* Tis the safest place in Germany ; 
The walls are high, and the shores are steep, 
And the stream is strong, and the water deep !' 

" Bishop Hatto fearfully hasten'd away, 
And cross' d the Rhine without delay, 
Andreach'd his tower, and barr'd with care 
All the windows, doors, and loop-holes there. 

" He laid him down, and closed his eyes ; 
But soon a scream made him arise ; 
He started, and saw two eyes of flame 
On his pillow, from whence the screaming came. 



" He listen' d and look'd : it was only the cat. 
But the bishop he grew more fearful for that ; 
For she sat screaming, mad with fear, 
At the army of rats that were drawing near. 

" For they have swum over the river so deep. 
And they have climb' d the shores so steep. 
And now by thousands, up they crawl 
To the holes and windows in the wall. 

" Down on liis knees the bishop fell, 
And faster and faster his beads" did he tell. 
As louder and louder, drawing near. 
The saw of their teeth without he could hear. 

" And in at the windows, and in at the door. 
And through the walls by thousands they pour. 
And down through the ceiling, and up through the 

floor. 
From the right and the left, from behind and before 
From within and without, from above and below — 
And all at once to the bishop they go. 

" They have whetted their teeth against the stones. 
And now they pick the bishop's bones ; 
They gnaw'd the flesh from every limb. 
For they were sent to do judgment on him." 

Arriving at Mayence in the evening, we put 
up at the Englisher Hof, very near the landing 
place and facing the Rhine. It is certainly one 
of the best of hotels, scrupulously clean, elegantly 
furnished, replete with home-like comforts, setting 
a splendid table, and all at exceedingly moderate 
charges. 

We spent a day looking over this old city of 
quaint houses with projecting upper stories, each 
house with canopy over the door, protecting 
painted or carved Virgin or Saint. The Cathe- 
dral, a large, rather uncouth edifice of red sand- 
stone, dates from 978. A portion of it is now 
undergoing restoration ; it contains a series of 
life-size monuments of the elector-archbishops 
of Mayence. The streets are full of Prussian 
soldiers, well-dressed and evidently proud of 
their nationality. From our hotel window we 
witnessed the arrival of the Emperor, who passed 
through the city on his way from Wiesbaden. 
His majesty wore citizens' costume and exhibi- 
ted no insignia of his rank, save his noble look- 
ing features, A person in uniform rode beside 
him in his plain open carriage. His majesty 
very politely acknowledged our salutations, and 
in a moment was driven out of sight. 

A three hours' journey through a lovely valley 
with castellated mountains in the distance, 
brings one to the ancient free city of Frankfort, 
where the equally ancient " Roman Emperor " 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



23 



opens wide his hospitable doors to receive us. 
All we can say for his Roman majesty is, that 
considering the long time he has evidently been 
in the business he ought to know better how to 
keep a hotel. One principal object of our sojourn 
in Frankfort was to view the famous Judengasse, 
where in former times all the Israelitish inhab- 
itants were compelled to reside. It used to be a 
very narrow tortuous lane, lined with curious old 
houses with projecting upper stories ; at either 
end was a gate which was invariably locked at 
nightfall, preventing ingress or egress. Here 
dwelt the bankers and merchants of this once 
persecuted race, flourishing despite the wrongs 
done them. We were much disappointed to find 
that the street has lost most of its distinctive 
features ; so old have the houses become that 
many of them are propped up by poles, while 
others have been demolished on account of 
having become dangerously insecure. Moreover 
^11 of one side of the street has been pulled 
down for the purpose of having the roadway 
widened. There are still a few old mansions 



remaining, whose cumbersome ornamentation 
and stoutly barred windows proclaim the former 
residence of those rich usurers against whom 
church and state waged incessant war. The 
descendants of these Jews bear the most honored 
names on 'change, in this, the richest city of 
Europe, and their present homes are modern 
palaces in the suburbs ; for European kings 
desiring to make war, are compelled to gather 
up the family spoons and endeavor to " spout 
them " with their uncle in Frankfort in order to 
obtain the "sinews " 

There are numerous curious old streets sur- 
rounding the cathedral, (now undergoing repair 
— all cathedrals are forever being restored,) 
which still present the picture which we expected 
to .find in the Jews' quarter ; but the modern 
avenues are wide and handsome, with fine dwell- 
ings and gardens. The city is surrounded by a 
public park which has very sensibly been substi- 
tuted for the ancient ramparts, while the old 
moat has become a romantic stream, here and 
there expanding into a shaded lake. 



VII. 



The Black Forest Country. 



Reader, did you ever peruse G. P. R. James' 
beautiful novel of " Heidelberg ? " If not, you 
■cannot do better than accompany his " solitary 
horseman " thither on the first convenient oppor- 
tunity. The one sight of Heidelberg is its castle — 
but that is the most romantic ruin in Europe. It 
was founded by the Elector Rudolph, A. D. 129-', 
but additions have been made to the original 
structure at various subsequent periods, the 
most beautiful being that portion built by Fred- 
erick V. as a residential palace. Its fagade of 
red sandstone is beautiful in design, elaborately 
carved and supporting numerous statues of the 
same material. The castle was captured by the 
French in 1693, when it was partly undermined 
and blown up, and in 1764 it was struck by 
lightning, destroying all the woodwork and 
much injuring the walls. The progress of 
decay has been arrested by the care of the 
Baden government, and the extensive gardens 
and park are kept in admirable order and freely 
opened to the public. No charge is made to 



visitors for exterior views of the castle, the 
courtyard, etc., but for a tour of the chambers — 
some of them being in dangerous condition — a 
guide is furnished, for the small fee of twelve 
cents for each person. 

From the terrace of Heidelberg is obtained a 
magnificent view of the town, reposing at the 
foot of its lofty slope, the valley of the Neckar 
and a wide stretch of beautiful country beyond ; 
at nightfall, particularly, the view is so lovely 
that it must ever remain impressed upon the 
memory of those who have been fortunate enough 
to behold it. 

In the extensive cellars of the Castle is the 
famous " Heidelberg Tun," having the capacity 
of eight hundred hogsheads, or 283,200 bottles 
of wine. A platform on the top of this huge 
barrel is large enough for four sets to dance 
upon it at once. We wandered for hours among 
and around these picturesque old ruins, meeting 
at every turn entrances to subterranean galle- 
ries, old walls, wells, gateways, monuments, and 



24 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



inscriptions ; and then returned to them again 
and again, and never wearied of them. 

The town of Heidelberg, occupying the nar- 
row space between the castellated hill and the 
Neckar, consists of one long street, and presents 
no features of especial interest. It is a lively- 
place, and particularly in the evening, when the 
students congregate in front of the beer saloons. 
Here obtains a horrid custom, which, without 
seeing, one hesitates to believe. Of the seven 
or eight hundred students a large pi'oportion 
belong to various clubs or chores, between which 
great jealousy exists respecting their fighting 
abilities. This jealousy provokes quarrels which 
are settled at the swords' point every Friday 
morning at a house called the Hirschgasse, situ- 
ated on the opposite side of the Neckar. The 
swords are very sharp and double-edged, and 
are used in the most savage manner ; yet, the 
vital parts of the combatants are so protected 
by padding that the duels seldom result mortally, 
and after fifteen minutes' fighting, he who has 
received the least number of flesh wounds is 
adjudged the victor, and his chore or club shares 
the dubious honor of the day with him. For a 
chore-student to have a face not disfigured by 
wounds is considered so disgraceful, that when 
the cuts are not sufl[iciently deep to leave indel- 
lible scars, they are irritated and prevented from 
healing until the desired result is obtained. On 
the evening of our arrival a large body of stu- 
dents paraded the streets to take leave of a pro- 
fessor who was about quitting the University. 
They wore broad sashes supporting their s»vords, 
and their pantaloons were tucked into immense 
cavalry boots ; their heads were adorned with 
little fancy-colored caps of most rakish aspect, 
and, very generally, by very beautiful light, 
curling hair. They carried torches and flags, 
and were preceded by a band of music. A 
wilder looking set of scoundrels would be diflS- 
cult to imagine, and they were all scarred upon 
their faces with hideous wounds, some of them 
of quite recent origin. As they swaggered ptle- 
mcle along the street, one could not help wish- 
ing for despotic power, to have the whole crowd 
of bragging, contemptible whelps hurled into the 
Neckar, and thus deliver Germany from a fever- 
sore. 

The Ritter Haus, a curious-looking building, 
the oldest in Heidelberg, and which is believed 
to have been occupied as an inn for upwards of 



five centuries was two years ago the scene of a 
terrible tragedy. Two students having quar- 
reled, it was arranged that they should meet at 
this houpo and there play a game of cards called 
" sixty-six," and that the loser should shoot 
himself forthwith ; and this horrible programme 
was carried out to the letter. 

On the afternoon of Friday, July 3d we left 
for Carlsruhe, where we spent the evening in 
listening to the electoral band's performances 
in the palace gardens, and afterwards wander- 
ing through the fine old park, the most exten- 
sive and beautiful in Europe. After a very hot 
day, the shades of evening brought refreshing 
breezes, bearing upon them the aromatic odors- 
of the pines and firs ; long vistas of forest ave- 
nues opened before us, cool and inviting, and 
we wandered on and on amid the deepening 
shadows. Anon sounded the melancholy wind- 
ing of the huntsman's horn, and then the night 
came on apace — silently beautiful. We would 
probably have continued for the balance of our 
lives to roam the stately woodland, forgetting all 
other things sublunary in the ecstatic communion . 
with nature, had not Miss Araminta, whose soul 
craves but a feather bed at nights, suggested 
that as it was nearly ten o'clock, we had better 
return to our hotel. 80 we wended our way 
townward to the entrance gates, only to find 
them locked up for the night, and the enclosing 
wall too high for a jump. It was not until we 
had retraced our steps for nearly a mile that we 
were able to gain a surreptitious exit from the 
Grand Ducal domains. Indeed, we speculated 
at one time whether we had not best rest for the 
night in some secluded bower, or else call at the 
palace and ask his serene highness for a night's 
lodging. 

Carlsruhe is the capital of the Grand Duchy 
of Baden, and is laid out with wide streets 
radiating from the palace like the spokes of a 
wheel. The Grand Duke has a great advan- 
tage in being the absolute ruler of so small a 
state, because he is able to govern his people 
personally and patriarchally. The arrangements 
which have been made for the moral, intellectual 
and physical well-being of the Badenese indi- 
cate thoughtful, intelligent and patriotic rulers. 
An army of ten thousand men guards this para- 
dise of absolutism from the encroachments of 
greedy neighbors. Cavalry, however, are at a 
discount in the Baden military establishment;^ 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



25 



as, owing to the peculiar shape of its territory, 
they can only be exercised in the direction of its 
length ; a transverse ride could scarcely be taken 
without violating the French or Bavarian bound- 
aries. 

;|e 3!« Jit >K 'K =!< >K 

Three days in Baden-Baden have passed like 
a dream. Nestling in a charming valley, amidst 
the sombre fir-clad hills of the Black Forest, 
abounding in beautiful walks and drives, in really 
good . hotels and in elegant private residences, 
Baden has become the most attractive and 
fashionable watering-place of Western Europe, 
and receives forty thousand visitors every season. 
The balls, the operas, the romantic scenery, 
above all, the gay society combine their attrac- 
tions to draw hither the best and most aristo- 
cratic society of Europe, although the gaming 
nuisance, once the chief attraction of the city, 
is now abolished forever. The magnificent 
saloons of the Conversation-Haus, once filled 
with desperate players wooing the fickle and 
destructive goddess, are now silent and un- 
peopled, save where, here and there, some aged 
individual is seated, gazing mournfully upon 
what was once, perhaps, the scene of his youth- 
ful follies — follies which have embittered all his 
after years. The suppression of seductive and 
paying evils like the gaming table of Baden- 
Baden is one of the best evidences of the real 
advancement of humanity in a moral point of 
view. 

The Trinkhalle has a noble colonnaded porch, 
its walls painted with frescoed representations 
of wild and faery legends of the Black Forest. 
The mineral water is quite hot and nearly taste- 
less, but not pleasant, and appears to be usually 
taken with lemonade or some other flavoring 
mixture, to make it palatable. It is ordained 
by medical science that the proper time to take 
the waters is from 6.30 to 7.30 A. M., and 
Junius, who strictly complied with the regula- 
tions, thinks that probably the early rising con- 
joined with the exercise of walking from your 
hotel to the trinkhalle are quite as beneficial as 
the waters. Even the performances of the ex- 
cellent orchestra in attendance, fail to make 
these matutinal inhibitions popular, and the 
Amateur is inclined to suspect that not one 
sojourner out of ten has any real interest in the 
waters of Baden. One has to be careful in 
procuring a drink from the public fountains in 



the town, else he will inadvertently thrust his 
hand into scalding hot water. 

The hotels of Baden are numei'ous, large, 
beautiful and well kept, indicating by their ap- 
pearance the superior classes of society which 
resort there ; the charges, also, are very reason- 
able. We put up at the Victoria Hotel, and re- 
ceived excellent attention ; our rooms were 
large, clean and well-furnished, our table boun- 
tifully supplied with substantials and luxuries, 
yet our whole expense, including wine, was less 
than three dollars per day. Baden has suffered 
some from the abolition of gaming, and more 
from the loss of its French custom — national 
prejudices deterring them from patronizing a 
German city. The Grand Ducal Government 
is attempting to replace its revenue from the 
gaming table by a tax on visitors amounting to 
twelve cents per day each. In return for this 
payment is given the privilege of visiting the 
Conversation-Haus and its excellent reading- 
room, the use of the Trinkhalle and its waters, 
and the performances of a splendid band of mu- 
sic morning and evening. These concerts are 
decidedly superior to any orchestra perform- 
ances in the United States, always exceptin.g 
those of Theodore Thomas' superb organization 
— and, indeed, the rendition of the " Consecra- 
tion Scene " from Huguenots, the " Lorlei Par- 
aphrase," and the "Finale, La Juive " was 
such as would have done no discredit to the 
latter. It seemed a little odd, to be sure, to sit 
in the open air, of a Sunday evening, sipping 
beer and listening to the jolly but nonsensical 
strains of Offenbach, but, as Miss Araminta truly 
says, (and we think we have heard it before), 
" when you are in Rome, do as the Romans." 
It seems like mere affectation, here in a foreign 
land, to consider ourselves more pious than the 
natives, by refusing to conform to customs in 
which they see no evil. It is due to the Ger- 
mans to say, that they seem to be a happy, con- 
tented people, and that in these public assem- 
blies we never detected any of that rowdyism or 
drunkenness which we would expect, under sim- 
ilar conditions, to see in America. 

The neighboring hills of the Black Forest are 
laid out with many romantic drives and walks, 
and afford magnifieent views of the surrounding 
country. One day we made an excursion to the 
Alt Schloss, a fine feudal ruin, situated on the 
Schlossberg, overlooking the town, at an ele- 



26 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



vation of eighteen hundred feet. This castle, 
built in the twelfth century, partly upon the 
foundation of an ancient Roman tower, has 
been abandoned for nearly four hundred years. 
Here, as at Heidelberg, the provident care of 
the state has stayed the dilapidations of time 
and preserved an interesting memorial of the 
Middle Ages. From the castle, we ascended 
several hundred feet further, over immense 
masses of porphyritic rocks to the Devil's Pul- 
pit, and spent nearly the whole day in wander- 
ing amid the wildest and most romantic scenery. 
The proprietor of our hotel surprised and grati- 
fied us exceedingly by comparing the Schloss- 
berg to the "grand hills of the Wissahickon, 
near Philadelphia." We made up our minds 
that he had traveled to good purpose. 

It was a hot day in Baden when we departed 
for Strasbourg — and a hotter one in the latter 
city, of historic and gustatory renown. With 
the thermometer in the nineties, the sun all-per- 
vading, the air perfectly quiet, and the pavements 
steaming, sight-seeing becomes a real penance, 
and one feels but little zest for " doing the 
town." We did, however, walk through a few 
streets, gazing on the curious old houses, six 
stories high, with three additional stories in the 
peaked roofs ; and we did also behold the exte- 
rior walls of factories of pate de foie gras — but 
the state of the thermometer precluded us from 
introducing any of these dainties to our inner 
man. Diseased goose-livers, attaining a fun- 
gous growth represented by three pounds in 
weight, are, no doubt, what one ought to " do " 
in Strasbourg, but we preferred ices — and ob- 
tained them, too, the best in all Europe — the 
most delicious of cold comforts and more worthy 
of celebration than the renowned clock, the sur- 
prising storks, or the indigestible goose-livers. 

On our way to the clock (the fame whereof 
has far o'ertopped that of the cathedral which 
contains it) we came upon two sights not down 
in the books. The first of these is the local 
manifestation of laundry establishments, each 
consisting of a long boat moored lengthwise in 
the canal. The boats are filled with women, 
who j)ly their vocation by dipping the soiled ar- 
ticles into the water and then slapping them 
against the boat's sides. Said water, having a 
lazy current, is not very clean to start with, and 
by the time it reaches the last of the boats, the 
addition of whatever it may receive from the 



washing processes on its way must make it 
much richer in color and odor than in cleansing 
properties. The proprietor of the Hotel de 
Paris considered it necessary to iitform his cus- 
tomers by proclamation, duly posted, that their 
linen Avould undergo renovation within his walls 
and under his peaked roof, and would by no 
means be subjected to the uncommon pollution 
of the common laundries. The other great cu- 
riosity of Strasbourg is the storks. There is 
no good reason to doubt that these birds were 
brought over by Hannibal, the Carthagenian, 
when he founded the city, B. C. 2572 — at which 
time the cathedral clock was not even thought 
of The storks pervade the chimney tops, 
where, standing upon one leg, they philosophise 
over the evanescence of terrestrial bliss. They 
especially do congregate around the fish market, 
where perched upon every available smoke stack 
their patient eyes seek what they may devour, 
nor vouchsafe a single glance at the Guttenberg 
statue below. 

JNear-by is the Church of St. Thomas, prin- 
eipally celebrated for exhibiting the shrivelled 
remains of a Count of Nassau and his daugh- 
ter, who died four hundred years ago. Time, 
which has seriously damaged their habiliments 
(once covered with theatrical looking tinsel), 
has not spared their countenances, and we hon- 
estly confess that we did not find either lady or 
gentleman worth looking at. In the same 
church is a stone coffin a thousand years old 
(the stone is probably even older) and a very 
beautiful monument to Marshal Saxe, erected 
by order of Louis XV. 

At the Prefecture, two thousand Jews were 
burned to death in the fourteenth century on sus- 
picion of having poisoned the Avells and thereby 
causing a plague which depopulated the city ; 
and in the same square, a century later, Gutten- 
berg first practiced that art which was destined 
to become the main lever for the overthrow of 
barbarism and superstition, the advancement of 
civilization arid humanity. 

The great cathedral is a very ornate structure 
, — a mass of carving in stone, rivaling lace in 
delicacy of design. It is surmounted by a spire 
five hundred feet high — the highest in the world. 
This spire is ascended by 72,000 or 720 steps — 
we forget which number, and we did not have an 
opportunity to count them. We were invited to 
go up, but feel certain that had we reached the 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



27 



top on that hot day, the remnant of us would 
there have dissolved in grease and ruined that 
beautiful spire forqver. Such is the cathedral, 
and it was Erwin of Steinbach, who, with his 
son, and his daughter Sabina, planned it all out 
of their own heads; and in 1277 was it begun, 
and in 1601 finished — that is to say, the spire 
surmounts one tower, but the other still awaits, 
and probably always will await its extinguisher. 
The Cathedral is principally celebrated for its 
clock, which is three centuries old — that is, the 
case (except where restored) claims that age, 
but the works were last renewed in 1842. We 
assembled in fi'ont of this machine at mid-day 
precisely, to witness its grand performances. 
After striking the hour,the twelve apostles passed 
in procession with that peculiar wiry, unsteady 
gait habitual with automatons, and then a me- 
tallic chanticleer flapped his wings, elevated his 
head, ruffled up his feathers and crowed — in a 
tone that would certainly provoke a derisive de 
fiance fi'om any well bred bird. After viewing 
these and other automatic wonders, a comfortable 
looking clerical gentleman showed us the mag- 
nificent stained glass windows, 400 years old, 
and also some modern (and inferior) ones recently 
put in to repair damages caused by the Prussian 
bombardment. On one of these modern windows 
is the figure of a negro, and our conductor, with 
the air of one who knows he is perpetrating a 
good joke, assured us that it was a correct por- 
trait of Count Bismarck. 

Strasbourg was originally a German city, but 
was surprised by Louis XIV in 1681, in time of 
profound peace, and Vauban was ordered to for- 
tify it in the best manner known to military 
science. Notwithstanding the length of time 
that it has been incorporated with the French 
empire, its inhabitants are mostly Germans, so 
that its reunion with the Fatherland in 1870, 
after a memorable siege, probably caused less 
pain to its citizens than to people of other lands 
— who have in this, as in many other, instances, 
been too ready to shed the sympathetic tear over 
woes which exist not, save in their own sickly 
imaginations. 

Wednesday, July 8th, we took a glad farewell 
of the sweltering streets of Strasbourg and made 
a journey of several hours to Schaflhausen. Our 
route was by the new Baden States Railway 
through the most romantic and primitive portions 
of the Black Forest. The road, a great triumph 



of engineering skill, penetrates more than thirty 
tunnels, and its cuttings, embankments and 
bridges are wonderful and thrilling to behold. 
The scenery is very wild and beautiful, resemb- 
ling, but far surpassing that of the famous Cata- 
wissa Railroad in Pennsylvania. As we as- 
cended by almost continuous heavy grades the 
air became cooler until, on our arrival at our des- 
tination, we found ourselves surrounded by 
mountainous ridges, whence cool breezes re- 
freshed our weai'ied spirits. 

The SchweitzerholF hotel is situated on a com- 
manding eminence two miles from Schafi^hausen 
and immediately in front of the celebrated Falls 
of the Ehine ; from its beautiful flower-covered 
terrace, the snow-capped mountains of Switzer- 
land are plainly visible. The Rhine, here con- 
fined between precipitous walls, suddenly makes 
a leap of eighty feet , the fall being broken by 
huge rocks, which cause the waters to roar furi- 
ously, and cover it with seething foam in its de- 
scent. Surrounding the Falls are pine-clad hills 
whose cool, sombre depths invite the traveler to 
take contemplative strolls. So beautiful are all 
the surroundings that, here, as at Heidelberg and 
Baden, the Amateur felt strongly tempted to 
rest from his labors thenceforth indefinitely — in 
a word, to be lazy. To be sure, the Rhine Falls 
do not compare with Niagara either in height^ 
width or volume of water, but in the surrounding 
scenery, they far surpass it. 

At our hotel, almost every guest is American 
or English, and an English lady told us that on 
a Rhine steamer recently, seventy-five out of 
about eighty passengers were Americans. We 
found lying on the piano at the Schweitzerhofl^, 
several pieces of music bearing the well-known 
imprint of Lee & Walker, Philadelphia. VeriJy 
there is yet hope for the regeneration of benighted 
Europe, now that she supplies herself with Ameri- 
can music. 

About two miles distant from the Falls is the 
ancient city of Schaffhausen, capital of the 
Swiss Canton of the same name. It contains an 
old cathedral and extensive cloisters, with mural 
tablets several hundred years old. Here, also, 
is the Castle of Munoth, erected three hundred 
years ago in order to employ the poor during a 
season of scarcity. The old houses and towered 
gateways of the town are very pictureBque, and 
especially interesting is a large building of the 
fifteenth century — the entire front being covered 



28 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



with most elaborate paintings by Tobias Stim- 
mer, a native of the city. Some of these sub- 
jects are considered masterpieces by competent 
art-critics. 

After exploring the streets pretty thoroughly 
we retired to the Public Park to rest awhile, and 
found a comfortable seat near the marble monu- 
ment to Miiller, the historian. Ere long, a 
party of three approached. The inevitable 
huge opera-glasses fastened to straps, the white 
umbrellas, raised even in the shaded walk, the 
green spectacles, the white capes fluttering from 
the straw hats like truee-flags, proclaimed Eng- 
lishmen and tourists. Each held a Baedecker 
in his hand. Without pausing in their walk 
they glanced from their books up at the statue, 
and wended their ways out of sight. That is 
the way in which tourists generally " do " Eu- 
rope. 

On Saturday, July Wth, we bade a reluctant 
adieu to the Rhine Falls, departing at 9 A. M. 
for Munich. Our route, by way of Constance, 
with a steamboat ride on the lake to Lindau, 
and railroad thence to Munich, took nearly all 
day to traverse, arriving at the Hotel des Quatre 
Saisons at 8 P. M. The journey was a delight- 
ful one, however, especially that portion made 
by the steamer — described on our ticket as 
" Bodenseedampffschifffart " — the longest word 



we have yet encountered in this land of cumula- 
tive syllables. Lake Constance is a beautiful 
sheet of deep green water nestling amid high 
hills, with a background, on the Swiss side, of 
snow-clad mountains. As we travel, we gradu- 
ally realize that the women of Europe possess 
more "rights" than their American sisters ; we 
behold them mowing in the fields, threshing the 
grain, breaking turnpike stones on the road, 
carrying very heavy and awkward loads on 
their heads with remarkable ease. Many of our 
traveling companions in the railroad cars have 
been German women of the better classes, and 
tliey have impressed us very favorably by their 
good looks, easy but proper demeanor, and kind- 
ly courtesy. They dress sensibly, and becom- 
ingly, too, and their forms are invariably those 
supplied by nature. With sweetness of expres- 
sion they combine graceful freedom of motion, 
appear natural and happy, and, as a rule, are 
far superior, morally and physically, to our arti- 
ficially constructed and conducted American 
women. Nature unadorned — Oh ! 

Miss Araminta has been reading the foregoing 
remarks surreptitiously, over our shoulder, and 
our tingling ear is demonstration that extreme 
freedom of action is sometimes emphatically 
illustrated by our American sisters. 



VIII 



Six Days in Munich. 



The morning of Sunday, our first day in the 
capital of Bavaria, we passed principally in the 
beautiful public park called the English Gar- 
den'. Covering several acres of woodland in 
the immediate vicinity of the best public and 
private buildings, it is beautifully laid out into 
drives and walks, arranged with such art as to 
much increase the apparent area of the grounds. 
Canals supplied with water from the river Isar 
beautify and irrigate the lawns ; nor are statues, 
fountains, etc., wanting to increase the effect. 

Munich is a stately and a picturesque city, 
full of interest to the tourist, and especially to 
the art student, for it is the great centre of 
modern art, and its collections are superior to 
those of any other European city. Munich has 
a population of nearly two hundred thousand 
people, and consists of an old and a new town. 
To the former the term picturesque may be 
fitly applied ; while the latter is stately and 
superb, culminating in two magnificently wide 
streets, the Ludwig Strasse and the Maximilian 



Strasse, which contain nothing but palaces^ 
museums, libraries, art galleries, hotels, and 
fine stores ; the latter street, indeed, is said to 
be the most beautiful in the world. Ludwig 
street enters the city under a triple arched white 
marble gateway, surmounted, at a great height, 
by a colossal group in bronze, representing 
Bavaria personified, in a chariot to which are 
harnessed four lions. An inscription records 
that the Gate of Victory was erected by 
King Ludwig in 1850, and dedicated to the 
heroes of the army. Almost immediately with- 
in the gate are the very beautiful buildings of 
the State University, occupying both sides 
of the street, and surrounded with flower beds 
filled with bright and fragrant blooms. Imme- 
diately in front of each pile of buildings is a 
large and very ornate fountain. The Llniver- 
sity possesses a library of half a million volumes, 
and an excellent natural history collection. 

Very close to the LIniversity is the modern 
Ludwig's Kirche, severely beautiful in the 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



29 



simplicity and perfect taste of its design. It 
covers an area of 220 feet in length by 1 50 feet 
in width ; its front is flanked by two square 
towers, rising to the altitude of over 220 feet, 
and the central portion is surmounted by some 
fine statuary by Schwanthaler. Beautiful gar- 
dens surround the sides and rear of the edifice. 
The interior is Grecian in style ; the arched 
ceiling, elaboratly frescoed, is supported by 
groups of columns, whence spring graceful rib- 
like arches. The altar-piece is a remarkably 
fine painting by Cornelius, representing " The 
last Judgment." It is of colossal size, 67 feet 
in height and 39 feet in width. 

In the evening we explored Maximilian 
Strasse, from our hotel to where it ends at the 
Maximilianum, an elegant structure built on 
elevated ground, facing and overlooking the 
street. This building is designed as an art 
school and gallery ; its front consists of two- 
storied colonnades connecting more elevated 
portions or towers.. Surmounting the edifice, 
and within the arches of the colonnades, are 
placed statues, and the front is adorned with 
beautiful frescoes. In the course of our ram- 
bles we crossed and recrossed the Isar several 
times by massive stone bridges, and peeped 
into the gardens of the enormous breweries 
which crovv'd its banks. These gardens were 
generally filled -with people enjoying the excel- 
lent and celebrated Bavarian beer, which they 
drink out of huge mugs holding about three- 
pints. At one of these establishments the 
youths and frauleins were whirling in the mazy 
dance, whilst their elders drank, smoked and 
applauded. A circus, on the opposite side of 
the street, also had its numerous patrons, for 
besides trapeze performances the drama of 
"The Murder in the Innsbruck Woods" was 
presented as a concluding piece— all for the 
price of ten cents to civilians and six cents to 
the military. The army was largely availing 
itself of this reduction of price in its favor. One 
of the theatres was also open, and at four dif- 
/ ferent localities concerts were given, afternoon 
and evening ; but very few stores were open, 
and the people seemed to devote the day en- ^ 
tirely to religious duties and rational relaxation 
and enjoyment. 

On Monday we visited the great fine arts col- 
lections of the metropolis, which are exhibited 
in several beautiful modern galleries situated 
near the Propylaen, a Doric gate, term'inating 
the street of same name. The Propylaen is 
built of pure white marble a.nd is ornamented 
with exquisite bas-reljefs by Schwanthaler. On 
one side of the street , just within the gateway, 
is the noble building devoted to Fixe Arts 
Exhibitions ; it is also of white marble, of 
Corinthian architecture. We here saw a large 
and very choice collection of modern German 
works. These are generally for sale, and 
every picture has a card attached, giving the 
subject, name of painter, and price. We could 
have freighted a ship with gems from this gal- 
lery. Opposite the Academy is the Glypto- 
THEK, or Sculpture Gallery, a marble building 
in the Ionic style, one of the most chaste and 
beautiful edifices in the city. The sculptures 
are arranged in a number of rooms, each of 
which contains the representatives of an epoch 
in the history of art. Rooms No. i and 2 are 



devoted to Egyptian and Assyrian statuary 
and bas-reliefs ; No. 3 contains the marbles 
from the Temple of Jupiter, at ^Egina, con- 
sidered among the most valuable remains of 
ancient art; No. 4, the school of Phydias. In 
the rooms numbered 7 and 8 are some glorious 
frescoes, by Cornelius and his pupils, repre- 
senting, in gigantic size, subjects from the Iliad 
of Homer. No. 10, the Hall of the Romans, 
chastely finished in white and gold, is filled 
with ancient gems; and No. 12, the Modern 
Hall, contains some of the choicest works of 
Thorwaldsen, Canova, etc., not a whit inferior 
to the noblest efforts of the ancients. 

From the sculptures to the Pinacothek, or 
Picture Gallery is but a short walk, but in 
making it we passed a parade ground, and 
were so lucky as to witness a regimxcntal drill. 
The exact and prompt exercises of the soldiers 
were as beautiful to behold, as the music of 
their very large band was to hear. The Pina- 
cothek is an immense Roman building, adorned 
on its principal faQade with twenty-four statues 
of celebrated painters, by Schwantiialer. The 
gallery contains in nine principal halls and 
twenty-three cabinets, nearly thirteen hundred 
paintings, grouped according to their " schools" 
and including a priceless collection of old mas- 
ters. The latter did not, on the whole, give us 
any better opinion of their merits than that we 
had previously formed ; yet we were passably 
well satisfied with several of the ninety-five 
paintings by Rubens, which are collected in 
one room. There are several Rembrandts, 
which did not impress us at all ; but we con- 
sider the figure pictures of Murillo perfect gems, 
especially that representing an old beggar wo- 
man very intently engaged in making entomo- 
logical collections in her son's hair, whilst the 
little chap contentedly fondles his dog. Of the 
Italian pictures, there are an "Assumption," 
by Guido ; " Susanna and the Elders," by Do- 
menichino ; a group of " Christ, the Virgin, and 
two Saints," by Corregio ; and others, which 
one is expected to admire, but cannot. Car- 
raccio's " Massacre of the Innocents" is a hor- 
rible picture, and one quickly turns from it in 
disgust, yet so vigorous and life-like is the 
drawing, that your eyes are impelled to it again 
and again. The terror, agony and desperation 
depicted, are sickening from their intensity. 
It is a most unpleasant picture, but as a work 
of art it is superb. 

Immense as the Pinacothek is, a few years 
ago the collections had outgrown its capacity, 
and it became necessary to construct another 
building for the modern paintings. This is 
called the New Pinacothek. It is two stories 
high, and contains fifty-two rooms. Its exte- 
rior is covered with colossal frescoes, by Nilson, 
after designs by Kaulbach ; and in the first sa- 
loon is a portrait of King Ludwig I., by the 
latter artist. One of the curiosities of this im- 
mense collection is a vase of malachite, several 
feet in. height, presented by the Czar Nicholas 
of Russia. Among the Bavarian pictures are 
several grand works, including Schorn's great 
picture of "The Deluge," and Kaulbach's 
" Destruction of Jerusalem." Room No. 6 con- 
tains twenty-three Grecian landscapes, by Rott- 
man, painted on the walls in encaustic. We 
were unable to obtain the number of pictures 



30 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



in the New Pinacothek, but suppose it to be at 
least one thousand ; we had thus examined in 
one morning about three thousand pictures and 
sev^eral hundred' statues, a task which, if thor- 
oughly well done, should have consumed as 
many weeks as the number of hours we de- 
voted to it. 

Opposite the galleries is a beautiful new 
edifice having a frontage of about five hundred 
feet, and used as an art school. It is but one 
of several such establishments, all munifi- 
cently endowed by the government ; the num- 
ber of art students in Munich being several 
thousand. We entered this great school, and 
found it most complete in every necessary 
accessory — instruments, artists' materials a 
vast collection of colors, both in original speci- 
mens and ground ready for use. The grand 
hall and staircase, built of polished marbles, 
with admirable frescoes on the walls and ceil- 
ing, is very fine. From the Art School, satia- 
ted with beauty, tired of gallery promenading, 
Ave turn towards our hotel, passing on our way 
obelisks, monuments, statues, fountains, too 
numerous to mention. We found quite a relief 
in devoting some attention to the busy life of 
the streets — women cleaning the highways, 
others carrying huge panniers of fuel on their 
backs, men propelling funny little sprinkling 
machines. 

During the day the post brought us two 
copies of the July number of The Amateur, 
doubly welcome to us in a foreign land. Be- 
lieving that the pleasure of imparting fully 
equals that of receiving and'having, moreover, 
a copy to spare, we deposited it on the table of 
the reading-room at the "Four Seasons," 
where, let us hope, it was instrumental in 
imparting sound musical ideas to the people of 
Miinchen. 

On Tuesday, July \\th, our first visit was 
paid to the National Museum, on Maximilian 
Street. It contains a very large and valuable 
collection of ancient and mediaeval arms, armor 
and war-like material; costumes, including the 
Bavarian court dresses of different periods, 
tapestries, inlaid cabinets and old furniture, 
musical instruments in great variety, ornamen- 
tal and useful articles of iron, bronze and other 
metals, porcelain, glass, pottery, etc. — indeed, 
a complete antiquarian collection, from the 
time of the Romans, which one could profitably 
spend many days in studying and describing. 
The walls of the building are adorned with 
heroic frescoes representing scenes in Bavarian 
history. 

From the Museum, we went to the Royal 
Palace, where, in company with numerous 
other tourists we were conducted through the 
State apartments. These include three series ; 
the Old Palace, the Ball Rooms, and the New 
Residence. 

The Old Palace, completed in 1616, is a very 
large quadrangular building enclosing four 
interior court-yards. Entering under an arch- 
way, we are shown three large spikes "driven 
into the wall, with an inscription relating how 
the Duke Christopher won a jumping match 
in the year 1490 by leaping twelve feet from 
the ground, while two princely competitoi's 
achieved the second and third honors at about 



nine feet. What degenerate fellows our modern 
athletes are I 

The Rooms of Charles VII., consisting of 
reception and dining saloons, throne room, 
bed chamber, cabinet of mirrors, and cabinet 
of miniatures exhibit the extravagant luxury 
and questionable taste of Bavaria's early rulers. 
All of the walls not occupied by mirrors or 
paintings are covered with gilded carvings ; 
the bed curtains and coverings, worked with 
gold embroidery, cost $350,000, and the labor 
of forty persons for fifteen years. The Salle 
des Fetes, with a noble porticoed front of eight 
hundred feet, was erected about twenty-five 
years ago, after designs by L. Von Klenze ; it 
is considered one of the most magnificent suites 
of apartments in Europe. Six of these rooms 
contain gigantic frescoes by Hittensberger after 
designs by Schwanthaler, representing forty- 
eight scenes from Homer's Odyssey. The 
State stairway hall is supported by columns 
three feet in diameter and about twenty-five 
feet high, each formed from a single block of 
marble ; the walls are inlaid with polished 
marbles of many colors, and the ceiling is 
magnificently frescoed. The double marble 
staircase leads to the Grand Ball Room, 130 
feet long and 40 feet wide ; its walls are deco- 
rated with relief figures by Schwanthaler. 
Opening on the Ball Room are the two Saloons 
of Beauty, containing thirty-six portraits of the 
most beautiful Munich women, painted by order 
of His Majesty Louis I. who was reputed a con- 
noisseur. Inasmuch as his subjects were selected 
as well from the theatre, the bourgeoisie, and 
the peasantry as from the Court circle, a much 
better collection ought to have been made and 
the inference is unavoidable that, either the old 
gentleman was not a good judge, or else there 
has been a vast improvement in personal 
comeliness since his time. However, the series 
includes some very lovely faces. In the Ban- 
queting Hall, adjoining, are fourteen large battle 
scenes, painted by distinguished artists, repre- 
senting the most glorious achievements of the 
Bavarian armies from 1805 to 181 5. Three 
spacious saloons, with heroic frescoes of scenes 
in the lives of Charlemagne, Frederic Barba- 
rosa, and Rudolph of Hapsburg, lead to the 
Throne Room, which is magnificently deco- 
rated in white and gold. Its gallery is sup- 
ported by twenty Corinthian columns, and 
between them stand colossal gilt statues of 
illustrious princes of the House of Bavaria, from 
Otho, Count Palatine, who flourished in 1253 
to Charles XII., King of Sweden. 

Of the New Palace, oilly five ground-floor 
chambers are shown. These are en suite, and 
are decorated with immense fresco paintings by 
Schnorr, representing scenes from the Niebe- 
lungen Lied. 

The palace garden is surrounded by an 
arcade, let out to dealers, who display their 
beautiful jewelry and fancy wares under its 
arches. Portions of the walls have been fres- 
coed with battle scenes and landscapes, to 
which are attached explanatory verses written 
by the King Louis, of female loveliness celeb- 
rity. His poetry does not appear to be a whit 
superior to his aesthetic taste. 

We had hoped to hear a Wagnerian opera 
whilst in Munich, as, the King, a great admirer 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



31 



of the eminent composer, brings out his operas 
in magnificent style. Unfortunately, the Royal 
Theatre was closed and undergoing repairs, so 
for our amusement we were forced to content 
ourselves with a beer-garden concert. For the 
small admission fee of eight cents we had the 
pleasure of listening to the splendid perform- 
ances of the First Bavarian Regiment Band, 
consisting of both string and military music. 
The programme was a good one in the main, 
including the overtures " Marriage of Figaro," 
" Tannhauser," " Lohengrin Potpourri" etc. 

Wednesday , y«/)/ 15//^, we visited "Bavaria," 
the largest bronze statue in the world. It is a 
female figure, standing with one arm resting on 
the head of a lion, the other arm raised aloft, 
bearing a laurel crown. Placed upon a granite 
pedestal thirty feet high, the casting itself meas- 
ures sixty-six feet, and weighs seventy-eight 
tons. It was cast at the Royal Foundry, from 
a model by Schwanthaler ; the material fur- 
nished being cannon captured by the Bavarian 
armies. The majestic repose, the immensity 
of this statue, its elevated position in the midst 
of ? plain without the city, all combine to ren- 
der it very impressive. The monument is as- 
cended by one hundred and eight steps in the 
hollow casting, and the head is large enough 
to permit eight persons to be seated within it 
together. Junius bestowed himself comfortably 
in the lady's, best back-hair; he could have 
dropped through one of her nostrils, which 
would have given him a magnificent fall of 
about ninety feet, and immortal fame in the 
subsequent editions of the guide-books ; but 
he didn't take any stock in the venture. 

In the rear of the statute is the Hall of 
Glory, a Grecian edifice of white marble, con- 
sisting of a central portico, the roof supported 
by forty-eight Doric pillars, and a projecting 
wing at' either side. Within the building are 
busts of Bavaria's great men. The frieze con- 
tains sculptured representations of forty-four 
victories, together with groups typifying Indus- 
try, Science, and the Arts. 

The churches of Munich are not generally 
remarkable for external beauty or grandeur, 
but the interiors are finished with gold and 
frescoing in the most gaudy manner. The 
Cathedral, or Frauenkirche, a large, ugly 
brick building, finished towards the close of the 
fifteenth century, is principally remarkable for 
its two immense square towers, 335 feet in 
height. It contains a beautiful bronze monu- 
ment to the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, erected 
in 1622, consisting of a catafalque over his 
prostrate body, with a knight in kneeling pos- 
ture at each corner. The figures are in armor, 
life-size, and the whole structure very elaborate. 
The very ancient Michaels-Hofkirche pos- 
sesses a fine altar-piece by Schwartz, represent- 
ing the " Fall of the Angels ;" but its chief at- 
traction is Thorwaldsen's monument to Eugene 
Beauharnais, the step-son of Napoleon Bona- 
parte. It is of white marble, and represents 
the Prince standing contemplatively in front of 
his tomb, habited as a Roman ; one hand is 
placed on his breast, the other holds a laurel 
wreath at his side ; at his feet is the iron crown 
of Lombardy. On his right sits the muse of 
History, and on his left stands the genii of 
Death and Immortality. The frieze of the 



tomb bears the inscription " Honor and Fidel- 
ity." 

The Theatiner-Hofkirche, the burial 
place of the royal family, and the Basilica of 
St. Bonifacius are both distinguished for the 
magnificence of their interiors. The latter is 
262 feet long by 125 feet wide, and 80 feet high, 
and is divided into five aisles by sixty-six mas- 
sive columns of polished marble. 

St. Peter's church, the oldest in the city, is 
also well worth inspection. 

Munich is beautified with numerous fountains 
and monuments : among the latter, the eciues- 
trian statues of Ludwig I., and of Maximilian I., 
and that of Max Joseph I., seated on his throne, 
are remarkable for elegance of design and 
elaborate finish. There is also an immense 
obelisk to the memory of the thirty thousand 
Bavarians who fell in the Napoleonic invasion 
of Russia ; this stands in a beautiful open space 
bordering the Botanical Garden. Besides the 
Propylaen and the Sieges-Thor, there are seve- 
ral more ancient gateways, of which the Isar 
Thor and Carl's Thor are fine specimens of 
antiquity, both battlemented and furnished with 
loopholes for archers. The former has an ele- 
gantly frescoed frieze. Just within the Isar 
Thor is Marien Platz, so called from its an- 
cient column surmounted by a bronze of the 
Virgin. Surrounding the Platz are the Old and 
New Town Halls, and many very old and pic- 
turesque buildings, forming the most interest- 
ing square in the city. 

We spent six aflive days in Munich, making 
all our explorations afoot, and invariably with- 
out a guide. We became quite familiar with 
its streets, and saw very much more of its 
buildings and people than we have time to write 
about, or you to read. We believe that we saw 
quite as much in the Bavarian capital as falls 
to the lot of most tourists — especially as they 
are generally contented to take a guide and 
carriage and ■" do" the city in a day. These 
very active individuals get the following results 
besides increased cost, loss of temper and 
fatigue from the high pressure system which 
they pursue: ist, they surrender at discretion 
to their courier, see nothing but what he bids 
them see and meekly receive the scraps of 
history and mythology which he deals out to 
them ; 2d, after they return home they will 
locate the Pinacothek in Florence, the Glypto- 
thek in Vienna, and will remember Munich 
only as the place where their Roast Duck was 
eaten with stewed strawberry sauce or where the 
beautiful Westminster bridge crosses the Seine. 

Munich is a magnificent city ; its streets, its 
houses, its public buildings, parks, collections, 
all bear witness to the beneficent care of a line 
of talented and good Kings. It is also decidedly 
a cheap city to live in. In the markets, fruits 
abound, especially very fine apricots, of which 
whole basketsfuU are exposed for sale. If the 
women are sometimes seen mixing mortar or 
carrying bricks in a hod, it cannot be denied 
that they look fully strong enough for their 
work, and under such circumstances we are 
not disposed to cavil at their right to compete 
with men in mounting the ladder of labor. In 
our travels through Southern Germany we 
found women constantly enjoying equal rights 
in the field, with hoe and rake and flail and 



32 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



scythe ; and if they have lost some of the 
dehcacy of form and the alabastar, unmeaning 
faces of housed-up American women, they 
certainly have gained in exchange health, 
strength and vigorous expression. If the half- 
starved denizens of our cities who sew them- 
selves into consumptions at eight cents per 
shirt would take a spell of field-labor in harvest 



time, they would not only recuperate their 
health, but also advance their sex towards that 
wished-for equality of "rights" which can 
never be attained except through equality of 
labor. It is work makes the man lord of crea- 
tion, for work developes the frame and energies, 
and a vigorous mind is the direct outgrowth of 
bodily vigor. 



IX. 

The Tyrol. 



On Friday, July ij^h, we left Munich for 
Innsbruck in the Tyrol, — a railroad ride of six 
and a half hours, but by no means unpleasant, 
notwithstanding its length. The road pene- 
trates the Austrian Alps by the valley of the 
Inn river, hugging close to the banks of the 
stream ; and ascending rapidly, we pass through 
a mountainous Country which increases in 
grandeur with every mile — a panorama of 
densely fir clad mountains, of beetling crags 
and of cjuaint Alpine villi\ges, with, at last, 
snow-capped peaks ten thousand feet high. 
Nestling in the midst and at the very feet of 
these surrounding heights is the curious old Ty- 
rolese capital, Innsbruck, [i. c, the bridge over 
the Inn), now containing a population of about 
fifteen thousand inhabitants ; the centre of 
many interesting historical events. It was here 
that some of the principal scenes of the great 
struggle of 1809 took place, when Hofer, the 
patriotic leader of the Tyrolese, struggled against 
the French and Bavarian invaders ; and here 
he administered the government during his 
temporary success. He was finally betrayed 
into the hands of the French, who shot him as 
a rebel. In the Franciscan Church is a fine 
inonument to his memory executed by Schaller. 
There is also in the same church the tomb of 
the emperor Maximillian I, one of the most 
magnificent monuments in Europe. It is a 
sarcophagus, with marble bas-reliefs, sur- 
mounted by a kneeling figure of the emperor 
cast in bronze. In two rows, arranged between 
the pillars on either side of the church are 
twenty-four bronze figures of heroic size, repre- 
senting male and female rulers of the House of 
Austria. These bronzes were cast in the early 
part of the sixteenth century. Among the prin- 
cipal curiosities of Innsbruck may be mentioned 
the noble Triumfpforte, spanning the main 
street by a triple arch, covered with sculptures 
and surmounted by a group of figures surround- 
ing the medallion of the Empress Maria 
Theresa — in whose honor the structure was 
erected, to commemorateher visit to the city in 
1765. There is also, connected with the Royal 
Palace, a small wing, covered by a golden 
roof. This was built in 1425 by " Count Fred- 
erick of the Empty Purse," who expended 



thirty thousand ducats on this foolish work in 
order to prove his title fallacious. 

The vista of the principal street of Innsbruck 
is very picturesque, with its quaint houses, its 
vaulted arcades, its Column of St. Anne and 
its environing mountains. We made a partial 
ascent of the Solstein, our only available path 
being the bed of a stream. Climbing continu- 
ously at an angle of about 4.0 degrees, over loose 
pebbles, is very tiresome work, and so we were 
glad to find in some snow, obtained at an eleva- 
tion of six thousand feet, excuse for deferring 
the ascent of the remaining thirty-three hun- 
dred feet, until our next trip to Innsbruck. 

On Sunday, July \^th, we traveled to Botzen 
by railroad through the famous Brenner Pass, 
making the journey of sixty miles in about six- 
and-a-half hours. The scenery along tliis route 
is justly celebrated for its savage grandeur, its 
lofty mountains, gloomy defiles, towering rocks 
and precipices, roaring streams and primitive 
villages. The peasantry, dressed in what is 
recognized all over the world as " Swiss peas- 
ant's dress," were going to church or to the 
shooting matches — the latter gatherings for trials 
of skill with the rifle, were very numerous, and 
appeared to form part of the regular Sunday's 
programme. 

The city of Botzen is about the same size as 
Innsbruck, and appears to be principally occu- 
pied with the manufacture of cheeses, judging 
from the villainous smells pervading the place. 
We passed Sunday afternoon and evening in 
this primitive city, principally for the sake of 
rest, and, the stores being closed, promenaded 
in the Park and grave-yard, looking at the 
throngs of people and listening to their good 
natured gossip. The climate or the cheeses 
seem conducive to female longevity, judging 
from the number of grandmothers and great 
grandmothers out on the promenade. Our 
landlord of the Victoria Hotel cooked us a spec- 
ial dinner including Chamois steaks, chickens, 
noodle soup, several kinds of vegetables, pud- 
ding, cheese and fruits, including luscious fresh 
figs. The cost for four of us for this sumptuous 
repast was about $3.50, which included a bottle 
of excellent Tyrol wine. 



THE AMATEUU ABROAD. 



33 



Verona. 



On Monday morning we continued our jour- 
ney to Verona, descending the valley of the 
Adige amid scenery but little inferior to that 
passed the preceding day. Verona is beauti- 
fully situated in the midst of a smiling valley, 
the Adige penetrating it, and flowing away 
through the very garden land of Italy. The 
city, which was founded in remote ages, has oc- 
cupied a prominent place in history since the 
time of the Romans. After the final overthrow 
of the Empire, Verona became the capital of 
an independent State, and was governed by the 
Scaligers, Visconti and other princely families. 
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it 
was the scene of the implacable warfare of the 
rival houses of Capuletti and Montecchi — an 
imaginary incident of which is embodied by 
Shakspeare in his play of" Romeo and Juliet." 
Afterwards the haughty republic of Venice ab- 
sorbed Verona, and retained possession of it 
until 1798, when it was transferred to Austria. 
Still more recently, the success of the Italian war 
of union and independence secured the freedom 
of this ancient city and it now is included in the 
Kingdom of Italy. Verona has always been 
strongly fortified and has several times justified 
Napoleon's celebrated saying that "fortresses 
were made to be taken." At present, the de- 
fensive woi^ks are on the most extensive scale, 
completely encircling the city, and beautifully 
constructed in faced masonry. 

A city which has been a place of importance 
for twenty centuries has naturally much attrac- 
tion, alike for the student of history and the an- 
tiquarian. Many great heroes, discoverers, 
statesmen, scientific and literary men were 
born and have lived here ; and its soil has been 
-fertilized by human blood ; for here have many 
famous battles been fought, from the victories 
of Marius over the Cimbri and of Theodoric the 
Great over Odoacer, to the present time. 

The buildings of Verona are generally old, 
large and massive ; ancient noble mansions and 
palaces, with large door-ways opening into in- 
terior courtyards, and windows well secured 
with iron bars. The exterior walls retain 
many vestiges of the elaborate carvings and 
frescoes which once adorned them. The ar- 
chitecture is distinctively Italian, and in sti^ng 
contrast with what we had previously seen in 
our summer's ramble. There are some new 
streets, wide, and lined with fine stores, but 
most of the city is in a dead-alive state of stag- 
nation, and not yet awakened from the lethargy 
imparted to it by Austrian misrule. Our hotel, 
the Albergo delle due Torre, is an old 
quadrangular building, surrounding a central 
courtyard, whence is the only access to the 
rooms. This courtyard is a general lounging 



place, and is ornamented with the curious hotel 
coaches, stable buckets, brooms, etc. Here 
the ec^uine toilets are performed every morn- 
ing, and hence arises the unsavory odor of the 
stable to the surrounding galleries, and to 
the sleeping apartments. These galleries, 
three stories of them, have no shelter from the 
inclemency of the weather, but are merely 
three-feet-wide passage-ways, protected by a 
hand rail at their outer edges. It looks curious 
to see the guests retiring at night, along these 
galleries, candle in hand. The courtyard walls 
of the Alberg'o are frescoed in bright colors 
and unquestionable bad taste. Furthermore, 
there is a campanile at one corner of the build- 
ing, andthe other towerindicatedbythename of 
the hotel is not at present visible. It has either 
disappeared in the lapse of centuries, or, per- 
haps, never existed save in the imagination of 
the builder or the drawings of the architect. 
The access to the chambers being so public, 
they are secured carefully against felonious en- 
trance by double doors, the interior ones of iron. 
The windows only look upon the street. The 
Albergo delle due Torre is a curiosity, and 
reminds one of the scene of the " Inn at Terra- 
cina" in the first act of Fra Diavolo. Equally 
striking is the resemblance of the chamber 
furniture to the setting of the second act of the 
same opera. However, they give one good 
meals and very fair attendance at the Albergo. 
An excellent wine, Policinella, is afforded at 
three francs per bottle, and the roast meat 
served with stewed apricot sauce is a dish one 
cannot soon forget or readily replace at home ; 
then their fresh figs are very luscious. 

The inhabitants of Verona are generally ex- 
tremely filthy, and their habitations ditto, but 
they possess a fund of jollity which all well- 
brought-up persons would consider incompati- 
ble with their evidently miserable surroundings. 
The young females of the better class, who are 
always attended by a duenna when walking, 
are frequently very pretty and quite covetous 
of the admiration of passers-by. They are 
generally small in size, but lithe and graceful, 
with clear olive complexion, jet black hair — 
very luxuriant, and lustrous black eyes, which 
they use very coquettishly. 

The town abounds in wine houses, where a 
glass of good wine may be obtained for two or 
three cents. Beer, also, has been introduced, 
and the sign, " Birra," is frequent. It is mostly 
of Tyrolese brewing, although some houses 
advertise it as from Munich and Vienna. The 
supply of fruits is abundant ; apricots, peaches, 
magnificent plums, figs, apples, and pears are 
sold under the protection of gigantic white 
umbrellas, ten feet in diameter. Fresh water 



34 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



is one of the standard commodities of the 
street merchants, and their cry of " aqua fresca, 
aqua!" resounds from sunrise till late at night. 
A glass of iced water, slightly flavored with 
lemon or aniseseed syrup, costs less than half 
a cent, and is very refreshing in the heat of an 
Italian summer. 

The great curiosity of Verona is its Roman 
Amphitheatre — the most perfectly preserved 
building of the kind in the world, its walls 
having endured the wear of twenty centuries. 
Only four of the arches of the outer circuit, 
however, remain, over seventy of them having 
fallen in an earthquake in 1184. The granite 
seats are in forty successive tiers, reaching to 
the height of about sixty feet, and capable of 
accommodating twenty-five thousand persons. 
The Amphitheatre is in the form of an ellipse, 
and its diameters are 510 and 412 feet respect- 
ively. The seats and interior staircases are in 
excellent preservation. 

We made our first visit to this remarkable 
structure at night, intending to meditate in the 
solitude of the place upon the times when heroic 
spectacle or Christian martyrdom drew the 
whole population to the arena ; but the noise 
of an orchestra rudely dispelled our dreams — 
only to realize them in another sense. For 
there, where the gladiator once displayed his 
prowess, where the disciples of a new faith were 
fed to savage lions, where, later still, judicial 
combats decided the innocence or guilt of the 
accused, and where, probably, many a "mys- 
tery play" was done by monkish actors — in this 
very spot was high tragedy performed under 
the title of "Cause and Eft'ect," the price of 
stone seats, for the occasion, being six cents. 

Numerous other Roman remains exist in Ve- 
rona, the principal of which is a gateway of 
two arches spanning the street Borsari. It was 
built during the reign of the emperor Gallienus, 
and named in his honor. Like the Amphi- 
theatre, it is in excellent preservation, although 
it has stood for sixteen hundi-ed years across 
the principal street. Probably more people 
have passed under the Porta Borsari than 
the entire present population of the globe. 

There are several fine old churches in Ve- 
rona ; notably, the cathedral of Sta. Maria 
Matricolare, erected under Charlemagne. 
It contains Titian's "Assumption" — more cele- 
brated than beautiful, and a baptismal font 
thirty feet in circumference, hewn from a single 
block of marble. The stone griffins which 
have supported the columns of the porch of 
this church for a thousand years, are so dilapida- 
ted that but little of their former shape remains. 

The entire front of the twelfth century church 
of San Zeno is covered with panneled bas- 
reliefs, and its doors by quaint bronze castings. 
Its campanile is very attractive. The interior, 
in the style of a Latin basilica, is very striking, 
being i-ichly ornamented with old statuary, 
paintings, and frescoes. The choir is reached 
by a short ascent of steps at either side of the 
church, andaccess ishadtothe crypt by a similar 
descent in the middle — so that the interiors of 
both are visible at the same time, from the au- 
ditorium. This church also possesses a very 



large font carved from a single block of red 
porphyry. 

From the churches we descend naturally to 
the tombs, which may include the tomb of 
Juliet (a fraud), and the Tombs of the Scali- 
GERS, the old lords of Verona. The latter, most 
elaborate structures in Gothic style, have ex- 
isted for five centuries in a public thoroughfare, 
yet neither time nor vandalism has robbed 
them of their beauty. Can. Grande the First 
is supposed to lie in one of these mausoleums, 
and another, equally elaborate, was erected by 
him to cover the remains of the brother whom 
he was, unfortunately, compelled to murder in 
order to become reigning duke. Then as to 
the tomb of Juliet ? We cannot describe it, 
because we were not there. The facts are : 

1st. That tourists so persistently demanded 
to be shown the last resting place of that lack-a- 
daisical young woman, that certain wicked 
people have improvised a legend, a marble, 
and a locality — with results eminently satis- 
factory to themselves. 

2d. It is well known that Juliet did not die 
at all, but married Romeo, and lived happily 
for ever and ever — and the proof of it is that 
she occupies every balcony in Verona nightly, 
at this tiiTie, just as she did in the time ot 
Shakespeare. 

3d. There never was a Juliet — she was a 
mere creation of the poet's exuberant fancy. 

Then as for the "Two Gentlemen of Verona;" 
if they are still living, they are, after the man- 
ner of the citizens so encrusted with earth as 
to be no longer recognizable. Junius thinks 
they must have removed to some other city, as 
gentlemen appear to be scarce among the 
natives. 

On the evening of July list we crossed one 
of the five fine stone bridges which span the 
Adige, and entering a pri\:ate garden in the 
suburbs, which, through the liberality of its 
owner is open to the public, we ascended a 
terrace, and thence gazed over the wide ex- 
panse of the fine old city, its fortifications, the 
surrounding, highly cultivated country, and on 
to where the sun, setting behind the distant 
Alps, tinted the clouds with colors such as hu- 
man art can never reproduce. The garden 
contains some of the lions of the town, said ^ 
lions, in this instance, being vegetables — a 
number of cypress trees, planted by an ances- 
tor of the present owner five hundred yeajfs 
ago. These ancient trees have attained a very 
respectable growth of one hundred and thirty 
feet in height. There are many other sights 
in Verona — the citadel, the market place, sur- 
rounded with arcades, the column still standing 
in its centre which was once surmounted with 
the lion of St. Marc, the insignia of Venetian 
supr^iiacy, the ancient council house, the 
Dante statue, the elaborate mausoleum of 
.Count Castelbarco which for three hundred 
years has. surmounted a gateway leading to 
the parochial schools of St. Anastasia. This 
old Count's whimsically situated monument 
was the central object of the cheerful view 
from our window in the Albergo delle due 
Torre, being "just over the way." 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD 



35 



XI. 

The Bride of the Sea. 



A beautiful route is that from Verona, via the 
ancient city of Padua to Venice, but scarcely 
to be appreciated properly by the tourist whose 
anticipations are all connected with his jour- 
ney's goal ; so that we remember but little of 
its features, and only have a vivid recollection 
of the vast lagoon over which our train sped 
for three miles upon a trestle bridge ere land- 
ing us at the depot. Arrived, we took an om- 
nibus, to wit, a gondola, and departed on our 
way rejoicing ; bound for the Hotel Vic- 
toria, which we reached after half an hour's 
paddling. The voyage could not be called 
rough, yet there is a motion in those boats 
which certainly tends to unsettle one's convic- 
tion of the stability of dinners, for example. 
Venice is built upon seventy-two islands, lying 
in the midst of extensive lagoons, and can only 
be approached by large vessels at high tide. 
The traffic of the city is conducted by four 
thousand gondolas, and every house has an 
entrance on a canal ; but there are streets also, 
generally from five to ten feet in width, fre- 
quently crossing the canals by little bridges, 
lined with shops and crowded by pedestrians. 
By these streets all parts of the city can be 
reached ; for, in fact, the gondola is merely the 
representative of the horse and carriage of less 
amphibious localities: it is the phaeton of the 
rich, the hackney coach of the tourist and man 
of business, the cart of the peripatetic mer- 
chant ; but the people, here, as elsewhere, exer- 
cise the locomotive powers bestowed on them 
by nature. We did not see any horses in 
Venice ; and, indeed, they could not be used 
there. The gondola, a long, narrow boat, fur- 
nished Vv'ith a small cabin for the protection of 
the passenger, is always painted black, in ac- 
cordance with an ancient law of the State ; it 
is propelled by one or two oarsmen, who gen- 
erally costume in a style that is decidedly 
more theatrical than picturescjue. The gondo- 
liers, who always work standing, are exceed- 
ingly clever drivers, and can turn a sharp cor- 
ner or shave another boat quite as skillfully as 
a London cab-driver. The cost of a boat with 
one rower is eighty cents per day, which can 
scarcely be considered dear. Most of the 
canals are quite narrow, but the Grand Canal 
is from loo to iSofeet in width. The old pal- 
aces which form its banks, the famous Rialto 
which spans it, the busy crowds upon its sur- 
face, form a unique picture, which, whether 
viewed beneath the azure sky of day, or in the 
shimmering radiance of night, impresses the 
memory ineffaceably. 

During the Austrian supremacy the com- 
merce of Venice languished, because her mas- 
ters did all that legislation could effect to foster 
the trade of Trieste at her expense, but since 
she has become a part of the Italian Kingdom 



commerce has revived wonderfully, and the 
bustling appearance of her watery highways 
and terrestrial byways betoken renewed life in 
the ancient mistress of the seas. Even at this 
unfavorable season of the year, we found the 
hotels well filled, and the richly laden shops 
crowded with customers. 

The great square, or Piazza San Marco, is 
the only large open space in the city ; it is a 
quadrangle, 600 by 300 feet, enclosed by the 
grand old cathedral, the library, and bearrtiful 
arcades. Within the square is the great Cam- 
panile, or bell-tower, considered by all the 
Avorld the most beautiful building of the kind 
in existence. A continuation of the Piazza, 
and connected with it by a passage between 
the library and the cathedral, is the PlAZETTA, 
or State quays, which contains the two cele- 
brated columns indicative of Venetian sove- 
reignty, the one surmounted by a statue of St. 
Theodore, the other by the winged lion of St. 
Marc. Between them, public executions for- 
merly took place. The arcades of the Piazza 
are occupied by elegant cafes and shops, the 
former surrounded by tables extending far out 
into the square, where one takes his coffee or 
ices in public ; and the latter consisting princi- 
pally of jewelers', photographers' and fancy 
goods establishments. The specialties of 
Venice for travelers' souvenirs are coral and 
mosaic jewelry, both very beautiful and ex- 
ceedingly cheap, also colored glass articles, 
beads, etc. Photographs are on sale in great 
variety, at very low prices, including the cele- 
brated night-scenes of Venice, colored so 
deeply, darkly, desperately blue, which have 
found their way into all our American picture 
stores. At night, when the whole Piazza and 
these stores are brilliantly illuminated, the dis- 
plays of goods are perfectly dazzling, and the 
square is crowded with the fashion and beauty 
of Venice. The view of the canal of St. Marco, 
in the evening, is also entrancingly lovely : the 
sparkle of the moonlight on the waves, the 
reflection from the illuminated buildings, the 
hundreds of black gondolas gliding swiftly in 
every direction, make up a fairy-like scene. 

The great sight of Venice is the Cathedral 
OF St. Marco, commenced A. D. 977, and 
finished A. D. 1043. It is in the form of a 
Greek cross, and of mingled Greek and Sara- 
cenic architecture, both domes and pinnacles 
surmounting its frescoed walls in very pictur- 
esque style. The front is 171 feet long, and 
consists of a central arched doorway with two 
smaller arched entrances on either side of it. 
Above these, supported by a marble portico 
resting on groups of small columns, are four 
enormous bronze horses, of Chian origin and 
unknown antiquity ; these were brought to 
Constantinople by Theodosius, and captured 



36 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD 



by the Venetians at the taking of the capital of 
the Greek Empire in 1206. Napoleon had 
them removed to Paris in 1797, where, for a 
brief period, they adorned the triumphal arch 
of the Place Carrousel ; they were restored to 
the Venetians by the general peace of 181 5. 
Above the portico, a large central, and four 
smaller arches are each surmounted by a 
statue, whilst another statue, within a cupola, 
is placed between each arch ; within the arches 
are fine ancient bas-reliefs. The exterior and 
interior of the building contains about six hun- 
dred columns, a large number, considering 
that the diameters of the edifice are only, nave, 
243 feet, transept, 200 feet. The central dome 
is 92 feet high. The walls and ceilings are 
covered with very ancient frescoes upon a gold 
ground, producing a very gorgeous effect. The 
floor is curiously wrought with elaborate mo- 
saics, which the feet of many generations have 
worn into hills and hollows to such an extent 
as to make walking decidedly insecure. The 
rich screens, carvings, paintings, statuary and 
bronzes which profusely pervade every portion 
of this rare old edifice, give it a richness of 
coloring and ornamentation which surpasses 
description. We were fortunate on the occa- 
sion of our first visit to the cathedral, as we 
heard a requiem mass performed by full or- 
chestra and very large chorus, the church being 
brilliantly illuminated by numerous wax can- 
dles. 

Near the Cathedral, and facing the Piazza, 
is the Orologio, or clock tower, surmounted 
by a huge bell, upon which two life-size bronze 
figures are made to strike the hour alternately. 
On the front of the Orologio are separate dials 
for the indication of hour and minute, which 
are illuminated at night. The Campanile, 
rising within the square, but nearly opposite 
from the Orologio, is a square tower, built of 
brick in the year 903. It contains a bell which 
is tolled between the performances of the 
bronze gentlemen on the roof of the aforesaid 
Orologio. The Campanile is 320 feet high, and 
the splendid panoramic view of the Adriatic 
city obtained from its belfry abundantly repays 
one for the fatigue of the ascent, which is ac- 
complished by forty inclined planes. 

The Doge's Palace fronts on the Piazetta 
and the Canal of St. Marc. It is a large square 
building of oriental aspect; its first story of 
arches resting on columns, forms an arcade 
and supports double the number of columns 
and arches in the second story. Within the 
interior court-yard is the celebrated Giants' 
Staircase, a noble flight of white marble, 
leading to the State apartments ; and at the 
head of the stairs was formerly located the 
open-mouthed lion, which was used as a mail- 
box for the reception of anonymous accusations 
of plotters against the peace and safety of the 
Republic. These denunciations invariably re- 
ceived prompt attention, and caused the arrest, 
secret trial, and generally torture and death of 
the accused — for to be suspected was to be 
condemned in those days ; and it is probable 
that every man of importance did commit or 
plot treason at some period of his life, because 
the theory of evolution, or woman's rights, or 
spiritualism were as yet unknown, and there- 
fore he had nothing else to think of than " con- 



spiracy dire." At any rate, when two Vene- 
tian gentlemen quarreled, the one who could 
get to the lion's mouth first with his hypotheti- 
cal information of treason, had decided advan- 
tage over his adversary. Within the Dogana 
are the grand council and state apartments, 
with walls and ceilings covered with paintings 
by Tintoretto, Veronese, Titian and Bellini. A 
picture by the first-named artist represents 
"Paradise," on a canvas 33^ feet high by 84 
feet wide. There are many more examples of 
the great Italian masters at the Academy of 
Fine Arts, and, of course, we found numer- 
ous enthusiastic copyists at work. Their suc- 
cess was generally very indifferent, for their 
pictures were far superior to the originals, 
despite their crazy endeavors to reproduce de- 
fects which would not be tolerated in the work 
of a modern railroad-car or window-shade 
painter. 

The Dogana is connected with the State 
Prison by the celebrated Bridge of Sighs, 
which crosses a quite narrow canal, at a con- 
siderable elevation. Many a wretched State 
prisoner has been conducted to his doom, 
across this bridge, in the days of Venetian 
glory and despotism. 

On Friday, July 2^//i, we made a pedes- 
trian tour of the city, threading a maze of 
narrow streets, sometimes not three feet wide, 
frequently arriving at the edge of a canal, 
which there was no means of crossing, and so 
having to retrace our steps and try again and 
again before finding a bridge. We crossed the 
Grand Canal by the celebrated RiALTO, which, 
magnificent as it looks from the water, is crowd- 
ed with booths for the sale of dry goods and 
provisions, so that the passage ways are quite 
narrow. Adjacent to the bridge is the market, 
where splendid fruits and vegetables are offered 
for sale along with strange fishes, baskets full 
of snails, Helix Pisana and H. pomatia, all 
alive and crawling about — some of them trod- 
den into unsightly masses of slime by the feet 
of the market people. Here, also, are trays of 
live crabs, and great heaps of boiled potatoes, 
and beans, smoking hot and looking very pal- 
atable. 

In the evening we took a steamboat ride to 
the Lido, one of the outer chain of islands 
which divide the Laguna from the Adriatic. 
The voyage was very beautiful, especially for 
the fine illuminated view of the city which it 
afforded, but the Lido itself was not a success, 
as sea-bathing was not going on at the time, 
and the concert at the Cafe Favorita included 
a most audacious attempt upon the " Stella del 
Nord" overture and other high-strung compo- 
sitions by half a dozen sqeaking fiddles, one 
asthmatic flute, a grumbling double-bass, and 
a tired-out piano. 

Then, as to churches : The church of Santa 
Maria Gloriosa de Frari, a large, but not 
particularly beautiful edifice, was erected in 
1258. It contains several elaborate monuments 
to departed Doges and admirals, and modern 
monuments to Titian and Canova. These lat- 
ter are placed on opposite sides of the church, 
and each include several life-size marble statues, 
beautifully executed. We saw no monument 
in Westminster Abbey, or elsewhere in Europe, 
equaling the one to Titian. 



THE AMATEUR ABROJil). 



37 



Santa Maria Della Salute is externally 
the most beautiful church in Venice. Within, 
a circle of pillars with arches springing from 
their capitals, supports a noble dome. The 



church was erected in 1630, in thanksgiving 
for the disappearance of the plague, after 60,000 
inhabitants had become its victims. 



XII. 

Milan. 



Time was pressing and the days were hot, 
so that, reluctant as we were to leave all the 
oriental architectural wealth of Venice, our 
longing for the more bracing climate of Swit- 
zerland, impelled us to resume our journey. 

On Saturday, yitly 2$f/i, we steamed once 
more across the lagoons, past Pavia, retracing 
our way as far as Verona. Thenceforth the 
scenery was new for us and assuredly worth}- 
of more careful study than the mere flying 
glimpses obtained from the windows of a not 
particularly neat or comfortable railway car- 
riage. Soon after passing the frowning forti- 
fications and quaint spires and towers of 
Verona, the largest of Italian lakej;, the Lago 
di Garda came into view, with Peschiera nest- 
Hng at its base. The scene was perfectly 
lovely, embracing the whole length of the 
calm, deeply blue lake and its hilly shores 
gemmed with numerous hamlets and villas. 
Then we passed the noble city of Brescia, 
built of the celebrated marble which is there 
quarried for the use of all the world ; and 
then the Alps came into view, and continued to 
furnish a background to the ever-varying land- 
scape until we reached our destination. 

Milan, at one time capital of the kingdom of 
Italy, contains a population of 200,000. It 
is very like Munich in many respects ; in the 
number and beauty of its public buildings, in 
its wide new streets and elegant shops, in its 
appearance of prosperity and progress. The 
city is very ancient, having been conquered by 
the Romans and adopted into history B.C. 191. 
Its ancient walls, like those of many other Eu- 
ropean cities, have been planted with trees 
and laid out into a delightful drive or prome- 
nade of eight miles circumference. Many 
gates, some of them of rich and unique de- 
sign, afford access to the country without ; the 
principal one of these is the .\rco della 
Pace, built of white marble, its faces adorned 
with statuary, and surmounted by a colossal 
bronze figure of Peace, standing in a car 
di-awn by six horses. The structui-e is 98 feet 
high and 73 feet wide. 

On the night of our arrival we walked 
through the Galleiua Vittorio Emanuele, 
a magnificent arcade, the principal front of 
which is not yet completed. The builchng is 
in the form of a cross, with a lofty arched ceil- 
ing of glass, and the central rotunda, where 
the four arms meet, is richlv adorned with 



statuary and frescoes. Elegant shops and 
cafes occupy the ground floor, and the display 
of goods exceeded in richness and taste any- 
thing we had beheld on the continent. One of 
the stores, having three fine show windows, is 
occupied by the famous music publisher, Ri- 
cordi. The publications displayed were en- 
tirely those bearing his own imprint — operas, 
masses and classical music only — and the in- 
terior of the store is arranged more like a 
private parlor than a mercantile establish- 
ment, being exquisitely furnished, and free 
from the noise, dust and hurry which would 
inevitably be found in an American house of 
similar pretensions. Ricordi publishes a fine 
edition of standard operas, with words; also, 
an excellent edition of piano-solo operas at the 
very low price of 18 cents each. 

Just behind the Arcade is the 'Place of the 
Theatre, and in its centre a beautiful white 
marble monument to Leonardo da Vinci. The 
statue is of heroic size, and is placed upon a 
lofty pedestal, having life-size figures of cele- 
brated artists at its angles. Fronting on the 
square is the world-renowned Teatro della 
ScALA, said to be the largest of opera houses. 
The theatre being closed for the summer, we 
found a judicious outlay of a few francs ef- 
fective in procuring a guide armed with candle 
and key, and on Sunday morning we explored 
its interior. There is no doubt that the theatre 
is larger than the Academy of Music, in Phil- 
.idelphia, as its corridors are ample and each 
b(jx has a dressing room in the rear. There 
is no gallery, but six tiers of small boxes, each 
fitted up with a bench on either side, so that 
the occupants face each other and sit at right 
angles with the stage. The two luckv persons 
having the front ends of the benches may wit- 
ness the performance by tAvisting their necks 
oft' to do it, but the six unfortunates sitting be- 
hind them can obtain no view save the faces 
of their \ is-a-vis or of the back of their file- 
leader. The boxes are about half the size of 
those in American theatres, the tiers very low, 
the benches without arms, the upholstering 
mean. The only noble part of the auditorium 
is the orchestra, which contains stands for one 
hundred musicians. The stage is 100 by 150 
' feet, and its floor inclines much more than is 
usual with us. y\lthough the building was 
quite empty, we found very little echo, and 
suppose there is none whatever when the 



m 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD 



house is full. As t.o the seating capacity, 
rlaimed to be 3600, we are certain that, allow- 
ing the same space for each person, it would 
not hold more than two-thirds as many as our 
Academy of Music. While, without doubt, 
operas are produced in Kurope with a strength 
of cast, chorus and orchestra unknown to us, 
but little attention is there |)aid to the comfort 
of the audience. 

The Cathedimi. di Milan, constructed 
entirely of white marble, was founded fi\'e 
hundred years ago, and is still unfinished, and 
it is estimated that about a century will elapse 
ere it will be completed in all its details. The 
building is Gothic, a perfect forest of pinnacles 
tmliroidered with the richest carvings. Over 
four thousand life-size statues have been placed 
in their niches within and outside the walls, 
and three thousand more are required to com- 
plete the work. So lavishly has money been 
expended here that elegant works from the 
most famous sculptors adorn enclosed portions 
of the roof, where they can only be seen by 
those who ascend for that purpose. It must 
not be supposed that the building is progress- 
ing slowly ; on the contrai^y there is e\ery evi- 
dence of the active prosecution of the work. 
Numerous statues have been placed in position 
within the last few months, and work is actively 
going on upon the ornamentation of se\eral 
j)ortions of the root. 

The Cathedra! is 490 feet long, transejjt 284 
feet, height 354 feet. The ceiling, 152 feet 
high, is admirably frescoed to represent car\ ed 
marble. The aspect of the interior is much 
like that of Westminster Abbey, but, owing to 
its lighter colored stone, more graceful and 
brighter, though not so imposing. 

In the evening we \isited the Pt'Bi.K. (Iak- 
i)EN,s, which are qnite extensive and beauti- 
fully laid out, with fine trees, flower beds, rock 
work, streams of water, lakes, and fountains. 
There is also a small zoological collection, a 
museum, etc. As the grounds were crowded 
with citizens, and well lighted, the scene was 
very bright and interesting. Two bands of 
music added to the attractions of the place. 
Near the gardens is the Place Lavour, con- 
taining the statue of the great Italian patriot 
who so sagaciously wielded the helm of state 
during chose trying and eventful years which 
witnessed the stormy birth of the new nation. 
Cavour, who certainly was entitled to be called 
"the Father of his Countr\," was called awn\ 
in the hour of his triumph by a martyrdom 
like that of our own Lincoln. The monument 
is in excellent taste; a lofty square pedestal of 
granite supports a bronze figure of lieroic size. 
He is in citizen's costume, his fine head some- 
what depressed, as if in meditation. Seated at 
llie bast' ot the pedestal is a bronze figure of 



Fame, who is about to withdraw her hand from 
the shaft whereon she has written the single word 
'•Cavour." There is no other inscription, and 
no adornment whatever to detract from the 
simple majesty of the group. 

On Mo/idiiY, yiily "^Ith, we made the tour of 
the city churches, starting from the Porta Sem- 
pione, or Arch of Peace, erected by Napoleon 
in 1807, and previously referred to in this chap- 
ter. Skirting the city walls and great barracks 
with its extensive place d'ar/iics, we presently 
heard trumpet calls repeated by different per- 
formers, -and soon came within view of a long 
avenue between two rows of trees, wherein 
about fifty cavalry trumpeters were slowly 
pacing, each one practicing upon his instrument 
entirely independent of the pitch and rhythm 
of his neighbors. The effect, as may be imag- 
ined, was startling, particularly as many of the 
performers were mere tyros, and could produce 
nothing but " quacks." As it was nearly a 
mile off from the barracks where these musi- 
cians were sent for "rehearsal," it may be 
taken for granted that trumpet music had no 
"charms to soothe the sa\age lireast " of the 
commandant. 

The first cltinch we xisited was -St. i\mbro- 
sio, where the (ierman emperors used to be 
invested with the iron crown of Lombardy. 
Externally the church is not in any way re- 
markable, unless for its very ugly brick walls 
and extensive cloisters, — the latter containing 
many ancient mural inscriptions, including" 
one of the ninth century, still readily decipher- 
able. The frescoing and carving of the inte- 
rior of the edifice are very rude, and the pulpit 
is of stone, resting upon eight short pillars. 

Sta. Makia DEiJ.E Gkazik, or rather the 
wall of the refectory in the old convent attached 
to the church, is celebrated for the great pic- 
ture of "'The Last Supper," by Leonardo da 
X'inri, w-hich is painted directly on the plaster. 
Its dimensions arc 30 feet long by 15 feet high. 
The artist was employed for 16 years on this, 
which was one of his earliest works, and is now 
the most celebrated painting in the world. 
'The old monks probably did not recognize the 
n^erit of the picture, fi)r they cut a doorway 
through it. As the P'rench under Napoleon 
used this room as a stable, when they captured 
Milan, the horses' hoofs have further defaced 
the wall ; from these causes, the effects of 
dampness, and other misfortunes, the picture 
is utterly disfigured, and the colors almost 
faded out. The conception of the work and 
the drawing are certainly worthy of all admira- 
tion, and as its beauties ha\'e been preserved 
and even enhanced, perhaps, in the numerous 
copies and prints extant, it were charitable to 
its decrepit old -age to cox er it with a decenf 
co;it of whitewash. 



TiFIE AMATEUR ABROAD 



39 



x:iii- 

Over the St. Gotthard. 



On Tuesday, 2?>th July, we left Milan, in 
much perturbation of spirit — a soup, composed, 
apparently, of cucumbers boiled in milk, hav- 
ing strangely unsettled our internal convic- 
tions, A short railroad ride of about an hour- 
and-a-halfs duration brought us to Camer- 
LATA. Our route lay through an exceedingly 
rich country, with fields in the highest state of 
cultivation — the crops including corn and 
hemp, both in flourishing condition. Numer- 
ous beautiful villas are embowered in orna- 
mental shrubbery, the lawns blazing with 
bright flower-beds, whilst fountains and statu- 
ary give evidence of the wealth and refine- 
ment of the proprietors — principally Milanese 
citizens. The train made frecjuent stoppages 
at rural stations. At Camerlata we were trans- 
ferred to coaches, which, descending a grade 
too heavy for the railway, soon brought us to 
the town of CoMO, at the foot of Lake Como ; 
the most beautiful of the Italian lakes. The 
town is quite ancient and picturesc[ue, and is a 
place of considerable manufacturing and com- 
mercial importance. The view of the lake is 
lovely, but without any approach to grandeur. 
The rich green waters are very placid and 
transparent, reflecting in their depths the sur- 
rounding richly-wooded mountains. Villages 
hug close to the hill bases, and beautiful villas 
emerge from the foliage at every turn. In this 
charming spot so equable is the temperature 
that the olive, the lemon, the oleander, the 
aloe withstand the winter and mature their 
fruits in the open air. A steamboat ride of 
little o\ xr an hour brought us to Bellagio, 
situated upon a promontory which divides the 
lake into two arms. Here we found excellent 
accommodations at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, 
and hither were we pursued by a female troub- 
adour, who, perhaps, in her youth, had a voice 
capable of doing justice to her profession — but 
that must have been centuries ago. The con- 
cert to which we were unwilling listeners dis- 
played an organ of peculiar timbre — say yellow 
pine, when it is being sawed ; occasionally 
ascending to the shrillness of a steam whistle, 
and anon breaking out with the revei-beration 
of a saucepan. The accompaniinents were, a 
^xixt'AX obligato AwA a dog howling ad libituni. 
In fact, the canine critic was the only one who 
had sufficient independence to audibly express 
his disapprobation of the music. We absolve 
the landlord of the Grande Bretagne from all 
suspicion of complicity in this concert, and 
hasten to say to his credit, tliat the lovely situ- 
ation of his house, the beautiful flower garden 
in front thereof, the decidedly uncomfortable 
pebble paths, the excellent and bountiful cui- 
sine, and the high price of board, combine to 
indicate a gentleman of most elevated feelings 



— no vulgar Italian albergiste, but a l)oniface 
after the American pattern. 

As to the town of Bellagio, it is a filthy place, 
consisting of a single street on the shore, with 
the usual vaulted passage-way under the 
houses ; and cross streets paved with cobbles, 
ascending the mountain-side by a series of 
little terraces, at an angle of about 45 degrees. 
Horses can only make the ascent by numerous 
zig-zags — but horses are at a discount around 
Lake Como ; there is no room for them. All 
the hills are terraced, and covered with vine- 
yards, and the narrow roads which ascend 
them are lined with high white walls, which 
reflecting the tropical heat of the sun, render 
it as intolerable as the almost impalpable dust 
which arises at every step. For a lazy man, 
Bellagio is a xery good place to stay at, for 
there is no provocation to exercise the locomo- 
tive powers in its neighborhood. In the even- 
ing the active members of our staff took boat 
and enjoyed the supposed pleasures of a row ; 
whilst the Amateur, with the decorum belong- 
ing to his age and dignified position, retired to 
a secluded bower, whence could be perceived 
the lake, half veiled in mist, numerous dark 
spots on its surface indicating the positino of 
pleasure boats, while the many lights of the 
town were reflected in long lines of fire 
upon the water, and the background was 
formed by the half-defined sombre mountains. 

The next day a little steamer conveyed us 
across the lake to Menaggio, where we en- 
gaged places in the diligence, and went zig- 
zagging up the hill for about an hour, and zig- 
zagging down the other side for another hour, 
which brought us to Porlezza, on Lake Lugano, 
where another little steamer occupied another 
hour in conveying us to Lugano, LuGANO is 
very ancient ; it was originally discovered by 
Russel Smith, who has very artistically depicted 
the town, as it appeared to him, upon the drop- 
curtain of the Walnut Street Theatre, in Phila- 
delphia. We were glad that we had come to 
Europe and to Lugano, because we were thus 
enabled, to a certain extent, to verify Mr. 
Smith's discovery, and to correct him in a few 
minor particulars. Standing where Mr. Smith 
evidently stood, we certainly beheld all the 
architectural and natural features of his paint- 
ing ; only, the Luganese women did not wear 
the Neapolitan head-dresses with which the 
artist has adorned his figures, nor did we 
notice, either here, or in an)- other Italian 
towns, the display of gay colored dish-cloths 
from upper story windows. Furthermore, we 
did not detect any stranded ginger jars upon 
the lake shore. The breakwater wall of the 
picture, moreover, we could not find, and, of 
course, the gooseberry as large as a man's 



40 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



head, which surmounted the wall, had also dis- 
appeared. Except in these few particulars, 
we think the painting is a sufficiently accurate 
representation of Lugano, or any other Italian 
town, backed by mountains and situated on 
the shore of a lake, river, pond, or ocean. 
The Lugano of the present period is a suffi- 
ciently prosaic place, for the Neapolitan head- 
dresses, the preserved ginger and the prize 
gooseberry were certainly features of more sur- 
passing interest than the asthmatic hand-organ 
and open-air circus, which were the only natu- 
ral curiosities that rewarded our researches. 
Being informed that Lugano was a good point 
to start from for the passage of the St. Gotth- 
ARD, we departed, accordingly, on Thursday, 
July 2,otk at 9 o'clock A. M., in great style, 
from the Hotel Belle-Vue, in a two-horse vet- 
tura of ancient build and brilliant hue. Away 
we dashed through the narrow streets, our 
vetturino cracking his whip sonorously the 
while, as advertising to the inhabitants and 
all others concerned, that three distinguished 
y\mericanos, to wit: two cxcellenzas, most 
illustrious dukes of America and one lovely, 
unliable and condescending princess of ditto, 
were traveling under his highly honored 
charge. Having thus felicitously cleared the 
town, the up-hill work commenced in earnest, 
and continued until we had gained a great 
elevation — the town and lake still continuing 
in view. After more than an hour's drive we 
attained the summit of the dividing range, and 
thence descended to Bellinzona, at the head 
of the lovely Lago Maggiore, where we arrived 
with great eclat at noon. Ordering our dinner 
at the Angel Hotel, we sallied forth to do the 
place while the meal was being prepared. 

Item : Two e.\tensive fortresses upon two 
high hills, commanding the narrow pass where- 
in the town is situated, and threatening dire 
destruction to any invading force. 

Item : Streets with vaulted sidewalks and 
overhanging upper stories, in the usual style. 

Item : The Dom ; its frescoes, its paintings, 
its statuary. 

The dinner eaten, the items of the bill are 
dictated by the landlord (the most matter-of- 
fact angel I ever met with), and written out in a 
fine Italian hand by the particularly fine Italian 
hand of the landlord's very pretty daughter. 
Duly and solemnly acquitting the said bill unto 
the comfortable-looking Mrs. Angel, who acts as 
cashier, behold us once more on the road ; with 
renewed horses, now increased to three, and a 
coach of greater dignity than before — if that 
were possible. 

Off we dash again — the harness-bells tink- 
ling gaily and the long whip cracking porten- 
tiously — through the valley of the Tincio, the 
scenery constantly increasing in grandeur with 
our progress through the defile. Lofty moun- 
tains, desolate titanic heaps of rocks, cascades 
and waterfalls surround us in every direction ; 
snowy mountain peaks are seen in the distance. 
Parallel with our route is the road-bed of the 
new St. Golthard railway, with thousands of 
men at work, preparing a line which for soliditv 
and finish we have never seen equaled in 
America. This road will tunnel for nine miles 
the heaviest grade of the pass, and when it is 
completed the diligence will no longer " make 
ha.stc slowly" over the mountain. At 7 o'clock 



P. M. we arrived at the village of Faido, and 
dashed up to the particularly nice tavern kept 
by the Prince of Wales. The princess, his 
wife, very kindly received us and attended 
personally to our comforts ; and we very soon 
found ourselves snugly bestowed in a genuine 
country posting inn. The air was fresh and 
pure, the roar of falling water was music to our 
ears, the afternoon ride of five hours was hun- 
ger to our stomachs, and thus we found the 
simple, but well-cooked and cleanly-served 
fare much to our liking. Reader, when yoif 
cross the St. Gotthard be sure to stop at Faido, 
and stay there a few days if you can. The 
latest French bonnet has never polluted the 
head of one of these simple villagers, it is true, 
but then French follies of all kinds are equally 
scarce. It is a mountain Arcadia. 

At 8 o'clock the diligence for St. Gotthard, 
a great lumbering affair, dragged by six horses, 
drove up to tlie inn door. The horses 
were changed while the passengers, who had 
been for hours packed like sardines within it, 
were gradually extricated and conducted to 
the coffee-room by the benignant princess 
(Mrs. W-alesj aforesaid. In a few minutes, 
having meanwhile put themselves outside of 
some provender on the genuine American 
railroad restaurant principle of stuffing, they 
were repacked, and started off again for a 
journey all night long, over the most beautiful 
part of the route. We blessed our stars that 
we did not go by diligence ! 

The actual passage of the St. Gotthard we 
made the next day, ju/y 31.S"/. The road soon 
commenced to ascend the mountain side by 
long zig-zags; the inner side excavated, the 
outer side built up in very substantial masonry 
and the edge guarded by stone posts. For 
several miles does the road thus continue back 
and forth like the convolutions of a long gin- 
ger-bread, until we obtain a very extensive 
view of the valley of the Tincio, dotted with 
villages and environed with mountains. After 
getting above the line of trees, however, the 
aspect of nature is very bleak, and the wind 
searching and damp, while a mist partially 
obscures the view, only showing range after 
range of road above us, and ditto below. There 
are generally vetturas in view, either ascending 
or descending, and numerous pedestrians, 
mostly English, are encountered. A few- 
patches of snow lay in ravines and other shel- 
tered positions, but the summit of the pass, 
6980 feet above the sea, was entirely bare of 
snow. Here is the .St. Gotthard Lake, the 
source of the River Rcuss, the principal feedei" 
of Lake Lucerjie. The descent of the moun» 
tain is rapid, and in about two hours we ar- 
rived at HosPENTHAL, at its base on the Swiss 
side. This is a very lively village, as it is the 
starting point for several mountain passes, and 
our landlord of the Meyerhoff was very busy 
and happy in consequence of the rapid succes- 
sion of arrivals and departures. That night a 
large company assembled at the Meyerhoff 
dinner-table, and nearly every one was Eng- 
lish or American. So cold was it that our 
beds had to be supplied with very thick co\- 
erings. 

Saturday, August is/, was the last day of 
our posting. Our road constantly descended, 
and soon after passing Andermatt we entered 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



41 



the very savage, sublime gorge of the Reuss, 
where for several miles the river is precipita- 
ted tumultuously over its rocky bed, covered 
with foam and roaring like thunder, while on 
both sides the narrow defile is walled in by 
beetling cliffs of naked rock. A scene of greater 
desolation and sublimity it would be difficult 
to picture. Here, where the celebrated Dev- 
il's Bridge spans the torrent by a single arch 
at a height of seventy feet, the French defeat- 
ed the Austrians in a sanguinary battle in 1799, 
and in the same spot the Russians, under Su- 
warrow, afterwards defeated the French. The 
little villages through which we drive with great 
eclat, are now gotten up on the Swiss pattern 
exclusively, and look like gigantic editions of 
. the Swiss cottages sold in our toy stores, but 
their surroundings are not so favorable, for 
each house is generally moored in the midst 
of a liquid cow-yard, with neither bridge nor 
boat to convey the inhabitants across, thus 
compelling them to ford the stagnant and un- 
savory lake. 

About noon we reached the village of 
Amsteg, surrounded by beautiful scenery and 
inhabited by female dealers in crysjtals and 
photographs. These merchants surround each 
vetturaor diligence as soon as it comes in sight, 
and cease not to importune until the unlucky 
tourist has purchased a twenty-five pound 
rock from each dealer for the sake of peace. 
We could not ascertain whence came the orig- 
inal mineralrgical stock in trade, but its re- 
plenishment is a simple process ; merely to 
gather up the specimens when the purchaser 
becomes tired of holding them and throws 
them away on the road. We saw crystals 
which had evidently been thrown away daily 
for generations, — crystals from which any re- 
spectable goniometer would recoil in horror. 

After passing through Altdorf, with its colos- 
sal but cheap statue of William Tell, and Flue- 
len, both considerable villages, we discharge 
our driver, his coach, his three horses, and our 
bill, and embark on the good steamer Italia 
for the voyage of Lake Lucerne. This lake is 
the most beautiful one in Switzerland ; its clear 
surface reflects the lofty mountains around 
which it deviously meanders — while the more 
distant peaks are covered with perpetual snow. 
The steamer stops at numerous places to land 
and embark passengers, for it is the height of 
the tourist season. One cannot turn a street 
corner suddenly without knocking down half 
a dozen Englishmen ; alpenstocks project like 
porcupine quills from the windows of the ho- 
tels, and the landlords are all as happy as they 
deserve to be for keeping such excellent houses. 
At Vitznau the railroad starts for the ascent of 
the celebrated Rigi, and here tourists gather as 
plentifully as flies around a pot of honey. 
The road goes up the mountain at a grade of 
twenty-five degrees, each locomotive drawing 
a single passenger car. Besides the ordinary 
track a single rail of cogs is laid in the centre, 
and a cog wheel running over it controls the 
speed and assures the progress of the journey. 
It is the fashion to go up the Rigi and stay 
there over night, for the purpose of seeing the 
sun rise and enjoying a glorious view embrac- 
ing a circumference of three hundred miles. 
About three times a year the weather is suffi- 
ciently clear for this purpose, and on all other 
occasions you "can't see it." Still, as the 



guide books tell you to go up the Rigi, up you 
go, accordingly, and you pay a heavy price 
for your one-eighth share of a bed, and you 
get up at three in the morning and go shiver- 
ing out into the fog and drizzle, and — as said 
before, you "can't see it." But then, after you 
have returned to your native land, you will 
dwell with enthusiasm upon the Rigi, and you 
will not fail to impress upon Cousin John and 
Aunt Tabitha (who are about going over) the 
great importance of ascending the Rigi. Omit 
Paris or Constantinople, if you choose, but by 
no means omit the Rigi ! 

To return to our steamer, however; upon 
rounding a promontory, a magnificent pano- 
rama opened before us ; the shores gemmed 
with stately chateaux and picturesque villas, 
and immediately in front of us, at the head of 
the lake, the beautiful city of Lucerne, with 
its new iron bridge, its numerous fine hotels 
facing the water, its old walls and curious tow- 
ers. Lucerne has a permanent population of 
about eleven thousand, but when we arrived 
the fashionable tourist season was at its height, 
and there were probably at least ten thousand 
strangers in the city, who thronged the streets, 
and gave the place a very lively aspect. The 
city derives its name from an ancient round 
tower with an extinguisher-shaped roof, which 
stands in the river Reuss, and was formerly 
used as a hccerna or light-house; it is now the 
repository of the public records. Besides a 
magnificent new iron bridge, the Reuss is 
spanned by two ancient wooden structures, 
having curious old paintings attached to the 
cross-beams of the roofs. Other noticeable 
antiquarian features are a council house, with 
a square tower, covered on its external walls 
with frescoes ; the cathedral, and the towers of 
the city walls. There is a grand monument to 
the heroic Swiss who sacrificed their lives in 
the service of the unfortunate Louis XVI. 
The design, by Thorwaldsen, is simple and 
noble ; in a perpendicular face of rock has 
been excavated the figure of an immense lion, 
recumbent, with an arrow penetrating his side ; 
the film of death is closing over his eyes, yet 
his extended paws cover a shield embossed 
with the French fleii7--de-lis. The monument 
cannot fail to impress one, for there is nothing 
meretricious in it ; true art portrays its object 
in the simplest manner. The "Lion of Lu- 
cerne" is a masterpiece, and tells its story in 
a noble and pathetic manner. 

We were induced by the fame of the great 
organ of the Cathedral to invest a franc per 
head to hear it played ; and never did we 
more thoroughly regret a musical investment. 
The instrument was put through all its paces ; 
at one moment shrieking with agony, at the 
next storming with rage. For an entire hour 
did the tortured machine make frantic attempts 
at melodic expression, yet never attained it. 
Probably most of the numerous audience con- 
sidered the music too scientific for their com- 
prehension, but the fact is simply that the or- 
ganist did not know how to play, and his 
improvisations betrayed his ignorance of har- 
mony. We record this organ playing at Lu- 
cerne as a musical swindle, and write it more 
willingly because this paper is no more likely 
to meet the aforesaid organist's eye than we 
are to visit Lucerne during the next fifty years. 



42 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



Through Switzerland. 



On the morning of Tuesday, August \tli, 
behold us once more en route. We started 
bright and early, because we had a ten hours' 
carriage ride before us to Interlaken, via the 
Bruxig Pass. The scenery from the road 
was beautiful, but romantic rather than sublime 
in character ; the pass being only 3200 feet 
high, or less than half the altitude of the St. 
Gotthard. But the towns and hamlets through 
which we drove, if they could not boast the 
altitude of those of the St. Gotthard route, 
certainly far surpassed them in cleanliness. 
This greater neatness is due probably to a 
more comfortable climate, as well as to the 
inhabitants being of German instead of Italian 
origin. We passed through Sarnen, Lunger n, 
Brienz and other flourishing towns, wherein 
the inhabitants appeared to be principally en- 
gaged in the industrial pursuit of wood-carving. 
The products of the art as exhibited in the 
principal establishments are wonders of design 
and execution ; indeed, so very delicate is 
much of the work that it seems impossible that 
it is cut out of the solid, and without breaking 
or splitting the detached portions. In Brienz, 
almost every house is a workshop and depot 
of wood-carvings, bearing over its door the 
legend, largely painted, that he who rides may 
read, " Sculpteur-Schnitzler." The last word 
Junius ingeniously deri\es from the Teutonic, 
schnitzle, to sculp. All the houses bear evi- 
dence of the local propensity to schnitzle, 
being enlarged copies of the most elaborate 
Swiss cottages of the toy-stores, and generally 
bearing carved inscriptions of the names of 
the owner, of his frau, of the master-carpen- 
ter ; to which is added the date of erection, 
and frequently a verse of doggerel. All these 
letters are cut upon the space between the 
windows of the first and second stories, and 
generally occupy the entire width of the house. 
A shed or platform is placed over the doorway 
to support the old-fashioned round-topped 
straw beehives — for honey of excellent quality 
is one of the principal luxuries of Switzerland, 
and is considered a breakfast necessity. It is 
no wonder that the Swiss bees make a good 
article, for they exist in the very paradise of 
wild flowers, surpassing in loveliness and pro- 
fusion those of America, while their variety is 
sufficient to awaken the enthusiasm of the 
most phlegmatic botanist. 

Besides gathering the wayside flowers, and 
mentally comparing them with the related or 
similar species of our own country — an unend- 
ing source of delight — we were much interested 
in observing the industrious habits of the coun- 
try people, the entire family, including small 
children, all working together in the market 
garden or harxest field. Upon the road, we 



frequently passed men, women or children 
carrying market produce or fuel in large 
wicker baskets strapped on the back, and in 
some cases the basket was larger than the 
juvenile who bore it along so sturdily. The 
women appear to be devout believers in the 
adage that "the devil finds some mischief still 
for idle hands to do," for when they are not 
carrying a load they invariably employ their 
hands in knitting as they walk. 

The Swiss roads have, and deserve the rep- 
utation of being the finest in the world ; they 
are hard, as level as possible, and supported 
in all dangerous places by walls of masonry. 
They are"maintained at government expense, 
abound with direction and mile posts, and 110 
tolls are collected. We found our drivers ex- 
cellent guides, pointing out all objects of in- 
terest on the routes, very civil and obliging, 
good humored, and with pleasant and honest 
looking faces. The horses are not models of 
beauty, certainly ; but they are very strong 
and enduring ; thus, a single pair brought us 
from Lucerne to Interlaken — over fifty miles — 
in one day, although this included the ascent 
of the Brunig. W'e observed that they trotted 
as briskly towards the end as at the beginning 
of our journey, and never needed to be urged 
with the whip. And this kind of work they 
are compelled to do day after day, in the 
tourist season. 

Interlaken occupies a fertile valley of no 
great extent, situated, as indicated by its name, 
between Lakes Thun and Brienz. There is 
nothing to be seen in the town e.xcept the nu- 
merous fine hotels, each surrounded by its 
beautiful flower-garden and lawn, and the 
wood-sculpture shops ; but the vicinity em- 
braces some of the grandest scenery of all Swit- 
zerland. P^u^nished by our host of the Beau- 
Rivage with horses and carriage and a 
German -speaking Swiss for driver, we set out 
early next morning for the excursion to Lau- 
terbrunnen and Grindelw.a.ld. Our road 
soon became a mere pass, following the course 
of the tumultuous Lutschinc towards its source. 
On either side was an ever-varying panorama 
of fir-clad and snow capped mountains, inclu- 
ding good views of the Jungfrau, the Wetter- 
horn, and other Alpine giants. Lauterbrunnen, 
/. e., nothing but water, well deserves its name, 
as within a short distance over one hundred 
streams precipitate themselves by falls and 
cascades into its \alley from the surrounding 
mountains. 

The principal fall, that of the Staubbach, 
although descending over one thousand feet 
by a single leap, scarcely satisfied our antici- 
pations, because the quantity of water is so 
small that it becomes entirely lost in floating 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



43 



spray before reaching the valley. The route 
to Lauterbrunnen we found very interesting 
in the opportunities it offers for the study of 
human nature — in the characteristics of the 
numerous tourists as well as of the natives 
who live off them. These enterprising natives 
beset one at every point of vantage, slip from 
behind rocks and ti-ees, pervade bridges, run 
after your carriage, and harangue you with 
offers of their wares in scraps of piebald dia- 
lect, which they shrewdly believe to include 
some words sacred to each civilized nation. 
There is no use trying to get rid of these pests; 
better be philosophical and study them as we 
did. As to the wares offered, they consist of 
the products of the country, useful and neces- 
sary articles to every tourist, such as lace (knit 
upon the spot, and offered at per piece of in- 
definite length and pattern by homely young 
women clad in theatrical Swiss costumes), 
Swiss cottages, alpenstocks, a view of the real 
live chamois, etc. You are also offered fruit, 
flowers, photographs, wheel-clogs, etc. Occa- 
sionally a small cannon is fired off in honor of 
your approach, and you are then under a 
moral obligation to "pay your shot," for you 
certainly cannot allow the enthusiastic peas- 
antry to be out of pocket on your account. 
After a single experience of this kind, Junius 
cleverly prevented its repetition by calling out 
in heart-broken accents whenever a cannonier 
came into view, " Don't fire, we'll pay you !" 
One of the greatest nuisances is the Alpine 
horn, an instrument of acoustic torture fully 
six feet in length, which gives forth a terrific 
wail that is echoed and re-echoed by all the 
mountains around. Probably each blast sends 
a nervous tremor through the entire Alpine 
system. We paid the first musician we met, 
taking his echoes at what we supposed to be 
fair market value ; but when we discovered 
that every perspective included at least one 
horn-blower for each half-mile of distance, we 
always put our hands to our ears and called 
out, "Das ist scJirecklicJi r' (That is frightful) 
Avhich seemed to stupefy them almost as much 
as the roadside beggar to whom Junius munifi- 
cently donated an American nickel penny — 
portion of a fund which that young man was 
at the pains to carry over three thousand miles 
in order that he might be able to dispense 
numismatical information with his charities. 

From Lauterbrunnen we return to a fork of 
the road, and following up the main stream of 
the Lutschine soon arrive at its source, in the 
Grindelwald Glacier, right at the base of 
the immense snowy Wetterhorn, whose peak 
towers to the height of twelve thousand feet. 
The glacier is very impressive and magnificent 
when viewed from the front, where the river is- 
sues from its cavernous icy recesses ; and it is 
still more sublime when, after penetrating two 
hundred feet through a gallery cut in solid ice, 
you arrive in a circular chamber hewn out of 
the same material, and illuminated with lamps 
hung on the frozen walls. From the village of 
Grindelwald to the glacier is a short walk of 
about two miles, and wc, like nearly all the 
tourists, went afoot. For ladies a mule, or 
occasionally a chaise-a-porteur, is sometimes 
used, but much amusement was caused by a 
healthy-looking but dandefied Englishman, 



who made use of the chaise "rather than incur 
the fatigue of the ascent, you know, don't you 
know?" For the benefit of the uninstructed 
reader we quote here the ambiguous definition 
of chaise-a-porteur given by a popular guide- 
book : "a kind of sedan-chair carried by two 
men on poles." 

Returned to Interlaken, we spent our even- 
ing in listening to the performances of a very 
good orchestra at the Kursaal, and part of our 
next morning in promenading the dreadfully 
muddy streets of the town under an umbrella. 
Then we purchased tickets of a railroad com- 
pany whose road is about three miles long, 
connecting Lake Thun with Lake Brienz, but 
which advertises for sale through tickets to all 
parts of Europe ! After riding the aforesaid 
three miles, in cars of the American pattern, 
but two stories high, we take steamer on the 
beautiful Lake Thun, and finally the cars 
again for an hour — which brings us to the 
capital of Switzerland. Here we remain over 
night for the rest, and go on the next day, 
Friday, Aug. jth, to Geneva, intending to 
return to Berne in a couple of days. 

Geneva is beautifully situated on both 
banks of the Rhone river, where it flows with 
swift current out of Lake Leman. The stream 
is spanned by several fine bridges, conspic- 
uous among which is that of Mont Blanc, 
celebrated for the grand view it affords of the 
most renowned of mountains. The city is the 
largest in Switzerland, containing nearly sev- 
enty thousand inhabitants. It is a busy and a 
fashionable place, one of the great continental 
resorts of English and American tourists, and 
therefore abounds with fine hotels, each of 
which, according to prospectus, possesses the 
exclusive view of Mont Blanc. The principal 
sights of Geneva are its watch and jewelry and 
musical-box manufactories and stores ; these 
industries employ an immense number of her 
people, and have given her a world-wide repu- 
tation. Travelers are particularly invited to 
visit these establishments, to inspect the pro- 
cesses of construction as well as the beautiful 
finished wares. The Amateur, however, 
sagely refused to avail himself of any of these 
opportunities, having a lady in his party, and 
thai lady, Miss Squibbs. It is so usual for a 
polite attendant to remark, when showing the 
goods, " 'Tis a charming necklace ; so becom- 
ing to Mademoiselle's style, and so very cheap 
— only 1,500,000 francs I" And then it is so 
usual for Ma<iemoiselle to look up at you with 
those irresistible liquid orbs and murmur 
sweetly, "Oh, what a dear, pretty necklace it 
is I How nicely it would match with my new- 
back hair or pink parasol I" We've been 
tJiere ! 

The Cathedral Church of St. Pierre, 
now the principal Protestant church of the 
city, is a picturesque old building, founded in 
the eleventh century. The pulpit is the same 
from which Calvert preached. There is a 
Roman Catholic cathedral — a recent erection 
— -and a Russian church with gilded dome and 
minarets ; but architecturally, the public build- 
ings of Geneva cannot compare with those of 
other towns we visited. The English Garden 
contains a large bronze monument commemo- 
rative of the entrance of Geneva into the 



44 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



Swiss confederacy. It consists of two females, 
armed, standing upon a granite pedestal. One 
of them carries a shield bearing the inscrip- 
tion, " Un pour tous, tous pour un." 

We tried to find some reason of natural or 
artificial beauty or picturesqueness to account 
for the great partiality which foreigners evince 
for Geneva, but could not cheat ourselves into 
the belief that it is superlatively interesting in 
any respect. We were informed that the 



great attraction consists in its "society," and 
that we can believe, because in our own 
country one invariably finds "society" per- 
vading those summer resorts which can boast 
no other attraction. As even Miss Araminta 
Squibbs, disappointed of the jewelry, voted 
the town a bore, we staid not on the method of 
our going, but scuttled off back to Berne, 
albeit of a Sunday morning, and a Protestant 
country, too ! 



XV. 
The Swiss Capital. 



The ancient city of Berne is situated within 
a great loop or bend of the river Aar, which 
nearly envelopes it. Since 1849, Berne has 
been the sole capital of the Confederacy, a 
circumstance which has much increased its 
importance — the population amounting to 
thirty thousand persons. Its streets are wide 
and the houses well built, but the lower 
stories are recessed to form vaulted foot-ways, 
after the Italian manner. Under these arcades, 
protecting the passenger alike from the heat 
and inclemency of the weather, are the stores, 
which abound, indicating a very large traffic. 
In the centre of the streets are several fine 
public fountains. Of these, one surmounted 
by a figure of Helvetia, the shaft supported by 
four figures representing the seasons, is very 
chaste and elegant. Another, the celebrated 
Ogre Fountain, represents a Kindlifresser, or 
child eater in the act of devouring a juvenile 
— a bad boy, no doubt — while the heads and 
arms of other young delinquents project from 
his coat pockets, giving promise of a full meal. 
There is a curious old clock-tower, with me- 
chanical figures to strike the hours, and other 
old houses and towers, a Council House, the 
Federal Palace, an antique cathedral, fine 
bridges, beautiful suburbs — in a word, Berne 
is an exceedingly quaint and interesting city. 

At the time of our arrival the town was un- 
usually gay, for a firemen's " Fest " had at- 
tracted competing fire-companies from all 
parts of Switzerland, and even froni adjacent 
portions of Germany, The houses and streets 
were profusely decorated with flags, banners, 
streamers and evergreens, and many thou- 
sands of the country people had congregated 
there, and were holding high revel ; thronging 
the streets through which the firemen seemed 
to be perpetually marching, preceded by bands 
of music. A grand competition of engines on 
Monday morning and a display of fireworks in 
the evening ended the celebration, and the 
guests departed ; but the decorations remained 
during the next day (market day), and the 
streets still preserved their very brilliant gala 
appearance. 



From the hills surrounding Berne magnifi- 
cent views of the Alps are obtained, embracing 
nearly forty snow-clad mountains; such as the 
W^etterhorn, Faulhorn, Finster-Aarhorn, Jung- 
frau, Doldenhorn, etc. ; and the chain of the 
Vosges mountains of France is also clearly 
discernable. We selected for our short so- 
journ in Berne the Victoria Hotel, which, situ- 
ated on a height called the Schantzli, has the 
Aar and the city eight hundred feet below it; 
giving us this beautiful near view in addition 
to the extensive distant mountain prospect. 
Close to the hotel is the Schantzli Summer 
Theatre, where the company from the opera 
house perform during the summer season. 
The situation is always cool, with a fine fresh 
breeze ; and the citizens resort here to take 
their tea under the shade trees, while enjoying 
the prospect and the music, and afterwards 
finish the evening at the play. On Monday 
evejiing, August \otIi, was performed "Peter 
the Great, of Russia, and Stephen Langer, of 
Glogan," an original play in four acts, and a 
prologue by Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer. Although 
our imperfect knowledge of (jcrman prevented 
us from fully enjoying the play, we were satis- 
fied that several of the actors were excellent 
in their respective roles. It seemed odd, at 
first, to see nearly every person in the audi- 
ence, including the ladies, either eating supper 
or drinking coffee or lager during the progress 
of the comedy ; but everything was perfectly 
decorous, and the play was listened to atten- 
tively and appreciatively. 

The next evening we again repaired to the 
theatre and heard the opera, Fille du Regiment, 
performed in very acceptable style. The 
prima-donna, Mrs. Spranger, is a singer and 
actress of no ordinary ability, and the Ser- 
geant, Herr Freund, is an excellent baritone^ 
The tenor had no voice, and was painfully 
aware of it ; but the chorus acquitted them- 
selves creditably, and the orchestra, twenty- 
one pieces, was very good indeed. We 
occupied a private box, for which we paid 
the enormous price of forty cents each, parquet 
seats being twenty and thirty cents according 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



45 



to situation, and gallery ten cents. Had the 
theatre been filled (which it was not) it would 
have held, probably, two hundred persons, 
and the total income could not in any event 
exceed fifty dollars ; and for this sum, or less, 
a company of fifty artists are willing to do 
opera in Berne ! Think of it, ye American 
impressarios, who try to persuade us that your 
prima donna is paid one thousand dollars per 
night ! Think of it, ye deluded American 
people, who pay three and four dollars a 
ticket for what ye may enjoy for thirty cents 
in Berne ! We assure you that we have heard 
worse singing and much worse orchestra per- 
formances at the Academy of Music, in Phila- 
delphia, than those of tlie little Schantzli Sum- 
mer Theatre, and the dresses of the soprano 
were superb and costly — or would be costly in 
the United States. Our landlord of the Victoria 
informed us that Madame Spranger's salary 
is seven hundred and fifty dollars per annum, 
which he admitted to be extravagant, but as- 
sured us that the lady was saving no money 
on it, as she occupied an entire house, sup- 
porting a husband and several children, and 
keeping a servant. The musicians receive 
twelve dollars per month each, for two per- 
foi'mances daily ! 

When they bring their pigs to market in 
Berne, it is in round wicker baskets, each of 
which, carried on the arm of a sturdy peasant- 
girl, contains one or several little live squealers 
carefully wrapped up in cloth. They (the 
little squealers) occasionally lift up their voices 
in the market place, making most inharmo- 
nious chorus, and their dear little white heads 
are continually being protruded from their 
wrappings to enable them to snuff the morn- 
ing air. From pigs to washing is perhaps not a 
violent transition, and enables us to advert to 



one of the curious customs of Switzerland and 
North Italy — the public washing of family 
linen. This is performed by the women at 
the street fountain, or on the banks of the river 
or lake. A number of planed boards raised 
at one end by legs, incline into the water at a 
steep angle. Over this kneels the manipulante, 
and her procedure is not complicated ; seizing 
the article to be cleansed, she first douses it 
into the water, and then, raising it by one end, 
slaps it on the board; and this alternate dous- 
ing and slapping continues until the color 
becomes satisfactory, or the patience of the 
laundress is exhausted, or the texture of the 
fabric is destroyed. (Seldom the latter, we 
fancy.) In this manner you will see a dozen 
or more dames washing their linen in the 
crowded street, their tongues moving as fast 
as their hands. The town fountain is the 
grand gathering place and news exchange, 
and is constantly surrounded by its votaries, 
who, if they are not washing linen, are clean- 
ing the family greens and potatoes in its 
trough, and drawing water with which to cook 
them. 

Of course we went to the Bear Pits and saw 
the famous official bears — not remarkable for 
either size or ferocity — and we took walks in 
the beautiful environs of the town ; and so we 
passed five very pleasant days. When we 
departed our landlord pressed us to come and 
stay a few days at the Victoria when we re- 
visited Europe the next season ; and we found 
no difficulty in accepting his invitation upon 
such conditions. We really think that for 
cool, fresh mountain air, home-like comfort, 
beauty of situation, and surrounding attrac- 
tions, the Victoria Hotel on the Schantzli is 
like an oasis in the desert. 



XVI. 



The Northward Journey. 



Our route lay northwards, for it was time to 
return to England by such easy stages as 
would afford us ample opportunities for rest 
and.sight seeing on the way — reserving Paris 
for our last continental experience. A ride of 
four hours brought us to the frontier Swiss 
town of Basle, Bale, or Basel (spell it which 
way you will), and to the end of the American 
style of railroad cars, which, to our great com- 
fort, are used in Switzerland. At Bale we 
put up at the Hotel Trois Rois, a fine large 
house on the banks of the Rhine — which is 
already, though so far from its mouth, a 
noble river. Bale presents few claims to the 
attention of the tourist, its aspect being that of 



an overgrown country village rather than a 
city, although claiming a population of forty- 
five thousand, and considerable manufacturing 
importance. The Cathedral was commenced 
nearly nine centuries ago, burned in 1185, and 
shattered by an earthquake in 1356; after 
each of these disasters it was "restored," so 
that it is difficult to tell the precise age of the 
very curious sculptures which adorn its outer 
walls. One of these, a knight on horseback 
driving a long lance down the throat of an 
obliging dragon, which very calmly receives 
the fatal thrust, is remarkable for grotesque 
conceit and rude carving. The material used 
is red sandstone, and the figures of the knight 



46 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



and dragon are supported by separate pedestals 
built against the wall of one of the two towers 
(226 feet high) which flank the main portal. 
The roof of the church is formed of diamond 
lozenges colored metallic green and gold alter- 
nately — -a gorgeous style quite usual in South- 
ern Europe. Although not a very large build- 
ing, the cathedral is certainly a most interesting 
one, externally, and we much regretted that its 
doors were closed, for the painted glass windows 
appeared tobe very ancient, and it also contains 
Holbein's celebrated frescoes of the " Dance 
of Death." This building was once the scene 
of a most reverend comedy ; in 1436 five hun- 
dred bishops met here for the purpose of re- 
storing the church to its pristine purity. After 
discussing points of faith and abuses for seven- 
teen years without coming to any conclusion. 
Pope Eugenius IV very properly excommuni- 
cated them all. 

The St. Paul's Thor is an arched gateway, 
with portcullis still remaining, surmounted by 
a clock-tower and flanked by battlements. It 
is certainly very ancient, although we could 
not ascertain the date of its erection. The 
town now extends far beyond this old portal. 

On Saturday^ August i^th, we went to 
Baden-Baden, and after an absence of seven 
weeks again installed ourselves in the Victoria 
Hotel at that very beautiful watering place. It 
seemed like coming home, almost; every- 
thing was familiar to us, and the hotel people 
recognized us immediately. In the evening 
we took our accustomed seats in front of the 
Conversations-Haus, and again listened to the 
performances of the excellent band ; nothing 
seemed changed — the same man walked to 
and fro endeavoring to sell copies of the little 
newspaper called the " Fremdenblatt," and the 
same stout old gentleman in blue coat with 
gilt buttons collected from us the government 
tax on visitors. Aye, even our accustomed 
banker, in supplying us with cash, tried to 
stick us with Bavarian shinplasters instead of 
gold, in precisely the same manner that he 
tried it of yore. ' We almost loved him for the 
reminiscence. Baden was more crowded than 
when we first visited it, but it has never re- 
gained the prestige which it enjoyed when it 
was the great gaming centre. Its days of 
shameful glory have departed, never to return, 
and no longer can its six thousand inhabitants 
live upon fashionable visitors. For a portion 
of the people there is the option of starvation 
or emigration. 

On Sunday morning we wandered through 
the beautiful woodland behind the Trinkhalle, 
stopping a moment at the Russian chapel, 
where three priests were chanting a service 
that no one could understand. The church is 
very pretty, in Byzantine style, with the usual 
gilt dome and minarets. Within, the arch of 
the dome is gorgeously gilt and frescoed, and 
there are good paintings and statuary. The 
building was erected at the expense of the 
Russian Prince Stourdza, and we presume that 



his purse defrays the charge of preaching to 
the benighted barbarians of Baden, who can- 
not comprehend a word of the service. The 
evening programme of the grand orchestra at 
the Kiosk was unexceptionable. Here it is : 

Part First. 

1. Fiiust Overture. Lindpaintner. 

2. Cavatina. Barbier di Siviglia. Clarionet Solo. 

3. Iin liebcn Deiitschen Vaterland. Walzer. Fliege. 

4. Fantasie. Otello. H. W. Ernst. 

Violin Solo by H. CziUag. 

5. Overture. Zampa. Herold. 

Part Second. 

1. Rakoczy March. Faust. Berlioz. 

2. Fantasie. Lucrezia Borgia. Verroust. 

Oboe Solo bj' H. Kappel. 
•3. Gruss aus Vaterland. Concurt Polonaise. Witt- 

inann. 
J. Fantasie. Trovatore. Verdi. 

The above The Amateur calls a decidedly 
high-toned programme. The audience listened 
to its rendition appreciatively. The leader of 
the violins, Mr. CziUag, is a virtuoso of dis- 
tinguished ability, and the conductor, M. 
Koennemann, is an accomplished musician. 
A concert of chamber music was given in the 
Conversations-Haus the night before our arri- 
val, and another was announced for the night 
after our departure, the principal attraction 
being Miss Anna Mehlig, the favorite pianiste, 
late with the Theo. Thomas Orchestra. Every 
Wednesday evening opera is performed in 
the beautiful theatre ; these, with three in- 
strumental concerts daily, at 7 A. M., and 3 
and 8 P. M., make unusual musical attractions 
for a summer resort. 

We spent most of Monday in revisiting the 
charmingly situated ruins of the Alt-Schloss, 
and thence through the sombre pines to the 
ruins of Ebersteinberg, another ivy-covered 
record of the feudal ages. Miss Araminta, 
who has " rocks and valleys" in her composi- 
tion, delights to conjure up visions of times of 
yore, and to repeople these deserted halls and 
courtyards, and battlements and towers with 
the chivalry of the age of romance ; but Junius, 
whose hard sense refuses the seductive glam- 
our of the imagination, remarks that these 
ruins are principally valuable as landmarks 
on the road to civilization. 

The three following days were successive 
stages of our journey ; bringing us to Mayence, 
to Cologne, and to Antwerp. A portion of 
this route was familiar to us, but not therefore 
devoid of enjoyment ; but from Cologne to the 
great Belgian port we anticipated beautiful 
scenery — according to " Bradshaw," the bible 
of the British tourist. We were doomed to 
disappointment, for the country was as l^evel 
as a pancake, albeit well cultivated. Brad- 
shaw, perhaps, was not so much to blame for 
this misrepresentation after all, for his com- 
parison was doubtless made with average 
English scenery — which does not require 
superlative encomiums. 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



47 



XVII. 

Antwerp. 



Antwerp, on the river Scheldt, sixty miles 
from the sea, is the commercial capital of Bel- 
gium — as Brussels is its political and social 
capital. The old streets of Antwerp are nar- 
row and picturesque, and radiate so miscella- 
neously from everywhere, that a stranger may 
lose himself in them with the greatest facility. 
The present population of the city is about one 
hundred and twenty-five thousand — much less 
than it contained towards the close of the fif- 
teenth century, when it was one of the princi- 
pal commercial ports of Europe. It will be 
recollected that Napoleon made Antwerp one 
of the principal points for the preparation of 
his projected invasion of England, and to this 
end constructed there enormous basins, docks 
and arsenals. He ever regarded this city as 
the greatest bulwark of his power, and even 
when after the defeat of Leipzig, he could have 
made peace with victorious allied Europe by 
sacrificing Antwerp, he obstinately refused to 
cede it ; preferring to risk his crown rather than 
part with what he considered its brightest 
jewel. And when the overwhelming forces of 
the allies poured into France, then the patriot 
Barras, too stern a republican to countenance 
the emperor in his prosperity, volunteered his 
services and was honorably distinguished by 
receiving the command of Antwerp, where he 
sustained a siege remarkable for heroic endur- 
ance of both garrison and citizens — a siege 
which was only terminated after it had become 
certain that the empire was no more. 

The basins of Antwerp are certainly stupen- 
dous trophies of engineering skill, and upon 
them the prosperity of the city is directly de- 
pendant. Their vicinity is the scene of great 
commercial activity ; immense warehouses on 
the wharves and whole forests of masts and 
smoke-pipes on the waters. 

The fish-market and the water-side streets 
are crowded with sailors and other naughty- 
cal looking characters, and the curb-stone 
stands contain great heaps of sea-mussels {My- 
iilns edulis), either opened or in the shell. The 
market hucksters wear curious lace caps with 
large ear-flaps which extend down over the 
neck on either side like the ears of lop-eared 
rabbits. This cap is usually surmounted by 
a coal-scuttle shaped bonnet, the facial edge 
whereof is neatly turned outwards like the 
rim of a dish. Dogs are constantly employed 
in the transportation of garden produce and 
milk, and, judging from the gorgeous profusion 
of polished brass nails with which their old 
fashioned and cumbersome harness is be- 
decked, they are highly valued by their owners. 

Many of the houses of Antwerp are six or 
seven stories high, the roof gable towards the 



street, and finished off in successive steps to 
the apex. Many of these old houses are mem- 
orials of the time of the Spanish supremacy, 
and indicate by their profusely sculptured fronts 
the boundless wealth and horrid taste of their 
builders. 

The great lion of Antwerp is its Cathedral 
— a noble gothic edifice, impressive in its se- 
vere simplicity — being almost devoid of the 
florid ornamentation without and within, which 
characterize its compeers. One only, of the 
two towers is completed, and rears its beauti- 
ful pinacle to the height of four hundred feet. 
The interior of the church is nearly four hun- 
dred feet in length, very lofty, and grand in its 
simplicity. 

Rubens, whose house is still shown to tour- 
ists, painted altar-pieces and many other pic- 
tures for the principal churches of Antwerp ; 
the Cathedral containing several — of which 
his " Elevation of the Cross " is considered 
one of the best. In this painting the grouping 
and drawing of the figures is superb ; but that 
unfortunate carelessness about details which 
pervades his pictures, has in this instance 
spoiled the entire effect. The cross with the 
Saviour upon it is being raised to an upright 
position, upon one side its shaft is grasped by 
a muscular man whose shoulder is braced 
against it, and another man with uplifted arms 
supports the cross-beam ; whilst on the other 
side a Roman soldier in magnificent action, is 
pulling with all his might on a rope attached 
to the top of the cross, and that rope is slack ! 
Besides the paintings, the churches of Antwerp 
are celebrated for their carved wooden pulpits, 
organs, choir-stalls and confessionals. The 
organ of the cathedral is a most elaborate 
piece of work ; and its pulpit, supported by 
life-size human figures, is surrounded by rich 
tracery bearing images, exquisitely finished, of 
large birds, such as a peacock, turkey, etc. 
The graceful canopy is surrounded by cherubs 
apparently floating in air, and is surmounted 
by an angel descending from heaven, who, 
with trumpet is calling the earth to repentance. 

The cathedral possesses also, a magnificent 
chime of bells, which is rung at intervals of fif- 
teen minutes, all day and all night. During 
our stay in the city, the ringer was engaged 
principally in wrestling with the " Fair Chorus," 
from Martha ; and before we finally became 
oblivious to earthly sounds, at about 4 o'clock, 
A. M., we thought we detected some slight im- 
proveinent upon his earlier efforts of the pre- 
ceding morning. Should improvement con- 
tinue at the same rate of progress, we expect 
when we again visit Antwerp, to hear that Mar- 
tha Chorus banged out very tolerably, for a 



48 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



chime tune. While much praise is chie to the 
Dutch perseverance of the ringer, it must be 
acknowledged that his bells are also good, and 
in perfect tune, and do not cause that anguish 
of spirit, which invariably results from hearing 
the ringing of St. Stephen's chimes in Phila- 
delphia. Bell music, at its best, is bad enough, 
but had John Bunyan's Pilgrim encountered 
St. Stephen's chimes, in the course of his Pro- 
gress, we feel assured he would have fled in 
dismay. Its times are all awry, and out of 
tune, and the sound thereof must cause many 
a curse, " not loud, but deep," within the quiet 
rooms of the Mercantile Library. It is one of 
the admirable advantages of going abroad, that 
it enables one to make a digressive criticism 
like the above, from the safe distance of three 
thousand miles. 

There are some other good churches besides 
the Cathedral in Antwerp : — The front of St. 
Charles Borromeo, and its rear face, with 
its singular tall spire, are particularly beauti- 
ful. St. Andre possesses the finest of the 
carved pulpits, but we submit, most respect- 
fully, that a marine shell {stnnnbus pjigilis) has 
never on any other occasion, rewarded the 
fisherman's toils on the sea of Galilee. The 
figure of Christ is noble in conception, and the 
postures of Peter and Andrew, who have just 
drawn their net, are very natural. The group 
is quite effective, and is considered a chef 
d'ceuz're of Van Gheel. 

The yard of the church of St. Paul contains 
a rude and very ancient representation of 
" Calvary," which certainly must be seen to be 
appreciated, as no description can do justice 
to its grotesque ugliness. 

The Calvary itself is a four-story structure of 
artificial stone grottoes, built against the rear 
of the church. The lower grotto contains a 
representation of the tomb of Christ, whilst to 
the left, is a vividly colored picture of a very 
hot place, with human beings uncomfortably 
frying in the flames. The road to Calvary is 
bounded by walls of rockwork from which pro- 
trude artificial bones, intended to represent 
portions of the human frame. They will prob- 
ably be accepted as such by the laity. This 
much we can, with confidence, aver of them : 
that no such bones have ever blessed the eyes 
of science, and that our friend. Prof. Cope, never 
encountered any bones half so wonderful in 
the Mauvaise Terres of Nebraska. The tops 
of this double wall are planted with life size 
figures of saints, etc., and at the entrance is a 
box, with placard attached, inviting contribu- 
tions toward the perpetuation of the enormity. 

The church, which has ever maintained a he- 
roic warfare against science, confounds the 
philosophic infidel by the exhibition of unac- 
countal^le pclvi at Antwerp, and of a skeleton 
of St. Charles Borromeo at Milan, whose body 
was supported by single leg bones, without 
knee-joints. Time and custom sanctify the 
grossest superstitions ; and thus it is, that the 
horrible absurdity of these cheats is only appa- 
rent to those who are "strangers in the land." 



In front of the Cathedral, is a fountain sur- 
mounted by an elegant scroll-work canopy of 
wrought iron, executed by Ouentin Matsys, the 
celebrated Antwerp blacksmith and painter. 
Ouentin fell in love with the daughter of an 
artist, but paterfamilias refused to sanction 
the suitor's proposals, remarking that his 
daughter should marry no one but a painter 
of renown. Ouentin, therefore, abandoned 
the anvil for the brush, and by his genius, won 
fame, riches — and a wife. 

The Hotel de Ville, or Council House, is 
a fine'old building ; its facade is richly ornam- 
ented with statuary and carvings. It contains 
some gorgeous rooms, with painted ceilings, 
one of them said to be by Rubens, and enor- 
mous chimney-pieces, elaborately carved. In 
one of the rooms are preserved full-length por- 
traits of the royal family, including the ill-fated 
Carlotta, Empress of Mexico. She has a beau- 
tiful face and sweet expression. Alas, how 
sad has been the denouement of her life ! 

Antwerp is rapidly increasing in population 
and wealth, and in every direction, handsome 
improvements are being made. The interior 
line of fortifications has been razed, giving 
place to fine boulevards, on which are being 
erected elegant edifices. One of the chief of 
these is the Theatre Flamand, which oc- 
cupies an entire square of ground, and is very 
richly decorated in the renaissance style. It 
was finished in 1872. There is, also, in the 
heart of the city, a new Bourse, an open court, 
surrounded by a richly ornamented two-story 
colonnade, in the Venetian style. The ceiling 
is partly glass, and the centre thereof is gau- 
dily emblazoned with armorial bearings. 
Antwerp boasts of its botanical and zoological 
gardens ; the former we did not explore, as its 
external appearance was not inviting ; but we 
went to the menagerie, which was said to equal 
that of London. Need we say that we were 
disappointed.'' The collection was decidedly 
inferior to any that we had seen — and yet it 
possessed interesting features. The fact is that 
a collection of living animals is always attract- 
ive to the student of nature, as well as the 
merely curious thousands. In this place we 
arrived at the proper time to see the huge ser- 
pents fed ; live rabbits were placed in the cage, 
and the horrible reptiles, by sudden springs, 
seized their victims and slowly, but relentlessly, 
squeezed them to death. Not a sound disturbed 
the silent tragedy, at which Miss Araminta 
gazed spell-bound, until she felt sick with hor- 
ror. It was a pleasant contrast to turn from 
this sight to the neighboring paddock, where a 
number of young deer, full of playfulness, 
chafed one another to and fro, cutting strange 
antics the while. 

On Saturday, August 22d, we departed from 
Hotel de I'Europe, and after an hours' ride 
over a country more flat than the sea, arrived 
in the capital of the Belgians, and found quar- 
ters at another hotel of the same name as the 
one we had iust left. 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



49 



XVIII. 

Brussels 



The city of Brussels is built upon the top 
and sides and around the base of a great hill, 
and contains a population probably not much 
less than 300,000. It is a very prosperous and 
busy place, and, like Milan, is progressing in 
improvements and population at a rate that 
Avould not disgrace a western American city. 
Its beautiful Park, royal palace and other pulD- 
lic edifices and monuments, as well as the 
principal hotels, are situated upon the high 
ground, in the very centre of the city. The 
line of the ancient fortifications has been con- 
verted into magnificent streets, planted with 
stately linden-trees. The principal thorough- 
fares are wide, well paved, and lined with 
shops whose windows are resplendent with 
beautiful and costly merchandise. In many 
respects Brussels deserves its appellation of 
■" the miniature Paris " — by the splendor of its 
public and private buildings, fountains and 
monuments, by the gayety and fashion, and 
above all the frivolity and excitability of its 
people. 

The national love for music is gratified by 
numerous nightly concerts ; of which those 
conducted by the opera orchestra in the Park 
are the most celebrated. This orchestra con- 
sists of eighty-five musicians, but when we 
heard them, not much more than half that 
force was present. On Sunday afternoon we 
heard a free concert in the Park, given by the 
Philharmonic Society — employees of the Glass 
Factory. The society forms a brass band of 
about twenty-five performers, and includes 
more trombones and tubas than are usual in 
bands of its size — the harmony was therefore 
much richer and fuller than we are accustomed 
to hear in America. The programme was ex- 
cellently rendered throughout, the execution 
crisp and perfect in time, and very expressive. 
As a cornet soloist was bowing his acknowl- 
edgements for very enthusiastic applause of 
his performance, one of the audience called 
out "Speech!" whereupon a general laugh 
indicated the familiarity of the Belgians with 
the English style of complimenting public 
men. 

The Park is laid out with considerable taste, 
and contains many noble trees, besides broad 
avenues, fountains and statuary. The posts of 
the several gateways are surmounted by groups 
of statuary of life-size, and one of these struck 
us as being rather an odd conceit : — it repre- 
sents a cupid reclining on the back of a re- 
cumbent hog ! 

The city is full of magnificent fountains and 
monuments. The column commemorative of 
the congress of nations which recognized Bel- 
gian independence in 1831, is avast marble 
structure, consisting of a round shaft rising 



from a square base to a great height and sur- 
mounted by a gigantic bronze figure. Colos- 
sal bronze lions crouch upon marble pedestals 
on either side of the shaft. We ascended that 
monument, and went round and round until 
we felt like a gigantic humming-top in full ac- 
tion. The view of the city and surrounding 
country, from the top, is magnificent, but we 
didn't stay long to enjoy it; being very desir- 
ous to unwind ourselves by retracing our steps. 
Arrived at the base once more, we were grati- 
fied to find the custodian in his usual health, 
having some fear that our loss by perspiration 
during the ascent, might have amounted to a 
disastrous' deluge. There is also, in the Place 
DES Martyrs, a monument to those who fell 
in the Belgian revolutionary war of 1830. A 
colossal figure of liberty, of marble, is seated 
on a pedestal, around which are bas-reliefs of 
the principal scenes of the war. Miss Ara- 
minta remarked that the gigantic female must 
herself have participated in the fight, as one of 
her eyes and a portion of her nose were black 
as ink. 

Junius, too, by the way, has such a lively ap- 
preciation of the ridiculous that he not unfre- 
quently checks the expression of our tenderest 
sympathies just as we are about to get up 
steam. At one of the pubhc fountains a 
goodly stream of water falls from the mouth of 
a sculptured human face ; and we, looking at 
it casually, did not remark any inappropriate- 
ness in the design — for surely water may pro- 
ceed as purely from mouth of human effigy 
as from that of dolphin or frog : but Junius, 
more critically scrutinized the sculpture, and 
triumphantly pointed out that in the agonized 
expression of the face, its down-cast attitude, 
and the hands convulsively pressed upon its 
bread basket, might be read a tale of woe. 
In short the artist had cunningly availed him- 
self of the realistic effect of the water, to portray 
the disagreable consequence of a violent nausea . 

The Grand Place is the most picturesque 
square in Europe. It is an open space front- 
ing a magnificent old gothic Town Hall, 
which has a beautiful spire, 364 feet high. Sur- 
rounding the square are houses erected by the 
ancient guilds or trades-corporations of the 
city. The oddity of these structures, many of 
their fronts being cumbrously ornamented and 
profusely gih, adds greatly to the interest of the 
place. Immediately opposite the Town Hall 
is the old Maison du Roi, erected in 151 5, 
wherein Counts Egmont and Horn, the Dutch 
patriots, passed the night previous to their ex- 
ecution — one of the most tragic events of the 
revolt of the Netherlands against the tyranny • 
and religious intolerance of Phillip II. of Spain. 
Immediately in front of their prison-house, the 



50 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



spot where they were executed is occupied by 
a monument surmounted by their statues in 
bronze. Another splendid monument is the 
bronze equestrian statue of Godfrey de Bouil- 
lon, the crusader, elected first King of Jerusa- 
lem. There is also a fine ornamental fotmtain 
commemorative of the virtues and public ser- 
vices of the burgomaster Charles de Brouc- 
kere. Numerous other statues and fountains 
exist, but the abo\e brief mention must suffice. 

The new Exchange stands undoubtedly at the 
head of the public buildings. It is a Grecian 
temple ; a noble flight of steps leading to a por- 
tico supported by Corinthian columns. The 
gable is gorgeously ornamented, and the gen- 
eral appearance of the building is imposing, 
yet graceful and elegant. In this, as in many 
of the most beautiful modern structures on 
the continent, very white stucco is applied 
to the rough and cheaply constructed brick 
walls, and the most massive effects of marble 
or stone construction, as well as the most deli- 
cate efforts of the sculptor's chisel are so suc- 
cessfully imitated, that it requires close inspec- 
tion by experienced eyes to detect the sham. 
We have hitherto utterly failed to produce like 
effects in stucco work in America, and our 
architects and builders should endeavor to de- 
vise a cement which shall withstand the effect 
of our severe climate. When this shall be ac- 
complished, the most ornate and seemingly 
expensive buildings may be erected at no 
greater cost than we now pay for plain pressed 
brick fronts. 

The Royal Palace is a vast but unpretend- 
ing structure of marble facing the Park ; and 
in its vicinity, also built of marble, are the 
bureaux of the various ministers, etc. 

Near the Nothern Railway Station, and ex- 
tending some distance along one of the noble 
boulevards, is the Royal Botanical Garden — 
beautifully laid out and planted ; with commo- 
dious green and palm houses. The garden, 
which is freely open to the public, is a much- 
frequented and pleasant resort, but does not 
compare in extent or interest with the English 
garden at Kew. 

At the Mu.sEUM OF Ancient Paintings are 
some hundreds of specimens of old masters of 
the " Flemish School." The subjects of these 
pictures are either religious or historical. The 
former are mere repetitions of wearisome 
crucifixions, martyrdoms, and kindred horrors, 
replete with the awkward perspectives, bad 
drawing, alarming incongruities of time, place 
and costume, and gorgeous coloring, which 
have given the " old masters" their reputations; 
the latter, however, possess a value and inter- 
est to the antiquarian and historian, who, while 
he laughs over their absurdities, cannot fail to 
glean many interesting items of custom, cos- 
tume, architecture, etc., from them. The same 
building contains a museum of natural history, 
which includes a fair and well-preserved col- 
lection of quadrupeds and birds, and is partic- 
ularly rich in skeletons of whales, dolphins, and 
kindred marine mammals. Some of the whales 
are in very fine condition, handsomely moun- 
ted ; and they exceed in number of specimens 
any similar collection we have seen. The 
great feature of this museum, however, and for 
us it possessed absorbing interest, is the im- 



mense and beautifully arranged collection of 
bones and implements from the Belgian cav- 
erns. Here are exhibited human skulls, teeth 
and bones, as they have been found associated 
with those of the Great Cave Bear, and other 
extinct animals. With these are many pro- 
ducts of primitive art, such as bone carvings, 
arrow-heads, spears, axes, and domestic uten- 
sils, all records of the existence of man at a 
period, the antic[uity of which baffles computa- 
tion in years. 

In the Museum of Modern Paintings, 
Palais Ducal, is a very beautiful collection of 
gems of Flemish art. One of the saloons, ar- 
ranged for concert purposes, has a large organ,, 
and is panneled with a series of paintings by 
Slingeneyer, illustrating the principal epochs 
in the history of the country. To complete the 
catalogue of galleries, the Wiektz collection de- 
serves especial mention. These paintings, some 
of them of very large size, were all executed 
by the eccentric artist whose name they bear, 
and after his death were purchased by the na- 
tion. The subjects are generally extravagant, 
grotesque or horrible, and indicate a type of dis- 
eased mind, which must have made life for 
the painter as dreadful as the hells he so 
graphically depicts. One of these represents 
Napoleon, dressed in the well-known coat and 
cocked hat, undergoing the eternal burning, 
while crowds of agonized spirits are reproach- 
ing him with his cruelties whilst living upon 
earth. Another picture, (which is viewed 
through a peep-hole, for the purpose of giving 
stereoscopic eft'ect), is called "The precipitate 
burial." The scene is a vault strewn with hu- 
man skulls and bones. In the centre is placed 
a coffin, and the wretched occupant, having 
succeeded in raising the lid, gazes horror-struck 
at these ghastly objects around him. In wan- 
dering through this gallery, one continually 
meets with surprises — some of them most pain- 
ful ones ; some of the pictures, moreover, are 
very indecent ; so that, on the whole, it may 
be doubted whether the government has made 
a profitable investment in purchasing the col- 
lection. 

The Zoological G.vhdens are very exten- 
sive, and beautifully laid out with flowers and 
shrubbery, but the collection of animals is not 
large. The best feature, (and only thing of 
the kind we have seen), is a collection of all 
the different breeds of dogs. 

There are many fine churches in Brussels ; 
pre-eminent among them is the Cathedral of 
St. Gudule, founded in loio. This church has 
an imposing front, approached by many steps, 
and is flanked by two large scjuare towers. 
The interior, which is profusely decorated, ex- 
hibits the most beautiful painted window in 
Europe. The carved wood pulpit overhangs 
life-size wood sculptures of Adam and Eve ex- 
pelled from Paradise by the Angel. Above 
the canopy, the Virgin is thrusting the cross 
down the throat of the serpent. Another 
pulpit, in the church of Notre Dame de la 
Chapelle, represents Elijah fed by the ravens. 
These carved pulpits in the Belgian churches 
are real works of art, and much more worthy 
of admiration than the paintings which call 
forth so much learned (and ignorant) enthusi- 
asm. 



THE AMATEUR ABROiD. 



51 



Brussels is well provided with street cars ; 
which are built by John Stephenson of New 
York. The cars are externally like ours, but 
are divided inside by a partition so as to ac- 
commodate first and second class passengers. 
We should like to see the result of an attempt 
to introduce cars with such compartments in 
Philadelphia ! The city is also traversed by 
several omnibus lines. 

Brussels is justly celebrated for its manufac- 
ture's. Its two principal products that interes- 
ted Miss Araminta were fine laces and black 
silks, whilst the Amateur concentrated his at- 
tention upon the tarts — produced here in greater 
variety and perfection than anywhere else in 
the world. The manufacture of pies was 
doubtless practised by the Belgian Gaels long 
before the discovery of America, but the first 
historical notice of these tooth-some dainties 
occurs in Caesar's Commentaries, where that 
distinguished gastronomist eloquently apostro- 
phises them in a distich, for the flowing metri- 
cal translation whereof we are indebted to the 
facile pen of Junius. 

" The art of arts 
Is making tarts." 

The black silks, especially those of Antwerp, 
are distinguished for brilliant surface, fine tex- 
ture, and above all for two admirable wearing 
qualities ; it is impossible to crush or crease 



them, and the longer they are worn, the blacker 
they become. The Brussels laces are made in 
darkened rooms, a ray of light being allowed 
to fall only on the work in progress. Each 
pattern is constructed separately, and then 
stitched on to the article of which it forms a 
part. On arriving at your hotel, even before 
you have had time to engage your room, you 
are beset by a crowd of mercantile barkers, 
who proffer their services as guides, and insist 
particularly upon showing you the silk or lace 
factory ; the establishment so definitely arti- 
cled, being the one where your guide has pre- 
viously arranged for a liberal commission upon 
the amount of your purchases, at the extrava- 
gant prices which Americans give for these 
goods — thinking them cheap because the duties 
have not yet been paid upon them. This does 
not end the doleful story, for in order to secure 
" bargains," it becomes necessary to cheat or 
bribe the custom-house officials at home, so as 
to avoid paying the heavy duties. We are 
sorry to write it, but it is a fact, that ladies are 
born smugglers and almost invariably bring 
home contraband goods in their trunks. Miss 
Araminta incurred the unmeasured contempt 
of the guides by refusing to become a smug- 
gler. Foreigners are considered lawful prey 
by the shop-keepers all over the continent, 
and the only way to escape being swindled, 
is fo purchase nothing. 



XIX. 



Impressions of Paris. 



On Wednesday, August 26th, we made the 
hot, wearisome, dusty, eight hours' ride fi^om 
Brussels to Paris ; where we established our- 
selves for a week at the Grande Hotel du 
Louvre. This immense house is situated in 
the very heart of fashionable Paris, facing on 
its principal street, with the palace of the 
Louvre directly opposite, and surrounded by 
theatres, palaces, churches, fountains, monu- 
ments — all the innumerable attractions which 
make this city the acknowledged capital of the 
civilized world. The hotel occupies an entire 
square of ground, and is five stories in height; 
its vast facades, destitute of ornamentation, 
give an impressive idea of grandeur and mas- 
siveness. Its ground floor includes a colon- 
nade along the Rue Rivoli, upon which face 
some of the most elegant shops in the city; 
including the world-famous Grand Magasin du 
Louvre, a dry goods establishment which for 
size and elegance almost rivals the store of 
A. T. Stewart & Co., in New York. Carriage 
and pedestrian entrances through archways, 
lead the traveler into the CouR d'Honneur, 
or interior court-yard of the hotel — an immense 
(quadrangular space, four stories high, roofed 



with glass. From this, one ascends by a mas- 
sive and beautiful marble stairs to the first 
floor, where are situated a large reading and 
reception room, breakfast and restaurant 
rooms, and the largest dining room in the 
world. The latter surpasses in size, magnifi- 
cence of painted ceiling and mirrored walls, 
the finest saloons of the royal palaces at Wind- 
sor or Munich, and will comfortably dine sev- 
eral hundred guests at one time. All the seven 
hundred rooms of the hotel either face the 
streets or the Cour d'Honneur, and the numer- 
ous passages are named like streets, with signs 
at the corner to facilitate the stranger in find- 
ing his dormitory. Thus, The Amateur lives 
in the fourth story, and to reach his domicile 
(after ascending the staircase) you pass through 
the whole length of the Rue Rivoli, and turn 
to the left where that street is crossed by the 
Rue de Marengo. Here, at No. 473, the tem- 
porary shingle of office is hung out ; and 
within, the massive editorial gold pen, freight- 
ed with the burning thoughts of genius and 
moistened with the tincture of nut-galls, illu- 
minates with pot-hooks and other hieroglyphics 
the many sheets of "best French note" which 



52 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



go to make up the monthly pabulum of copy 
for "The Amateur." The service of the 
Grande Hotel du Louvre includes over two 
hundred persons, but so thorough is the organ- 
ization that the utmost regularity pervades 
every department. Notwithstanding its choice 
situation and excellent living, including good 
wine ad libitum at the table d'hote, the cost of 
living here is only three dollars per diem. 

There are many other very large and mag- 
nificent hotels in Paris ; besides restaurants 
where you can dine comfortably for a low 
price ; thus, a respectable establishment on the 
fashionable Rue Rivoli gives you a dinner con- 
sisting of soup, five dishes chosen from the bill 
of fare, two kinds of dessert and a bottle of 
good wine, for 40 cents ; and for 20 cents, 
soup, three dishes, a dessert and a glass of 
wine ! As to wine itself, merchants ofter good 
quality Burgundy at #2.25 per dozen ! When 
we add to this that good black silk dresses are 
made to order from thirty dollars upwards, in- 
cluding the material ; that a fine black dress 
coat costs fifteen dollars, and a pair of fine 
calfskin congress gaiters two and a half to 
three dollars, one can readily understand how 
it is that so many Americans come to Paris to 
spend their time and money. It is strange that 
self-expatriation is not even more usual with 
us. Although the traveler unlearned in the 
language and habits of the people is invariably 
the victim of petty extortion everywhere in 
Europe, for the resident, who has "learned 
the ropes," continental cities, and especially 
Paris, unite the advantages of great cheapness 
with unusual attractions suited to every taste. 
A modest income, which in Philadelphia would 
not permit cessation of mercantile or profes- 
sional pursuits, here procures the luxuries of 
wealth. Then, Paris is an epitome of the 
world — its streets ever-changing kaleidoscopic 
views and its amusements almost innumerable. 
Here we are, " out of season " and in the heat 
of summer, yet four opera houses, a dozen 
theatres and many concerts arc in full opera- 
tion ; but of these, more anon. 

The city of Paris is nearly circular in shape, 
covering an area about two-thirds that of Phil- 
adelphia and containing a population ap- 
proaching two millions in number. The river 
Seine, spanned by twenty fine stone bridges, 
and navigable only for the smallest steam- 
boats, runs through the heart of the city. Old 
Paris, with its curious antique houses, narrow 
streets and swarming people, is scarcely seen 
by the ordinary carriage-toui-ist, for the mag- 
nificent modern boulevards, penetrating in all 
directions, and teeming with wealth and gay- 
ety, are naturally chosen for the approaches 
to the "sights." Many of these boulevards 
were constructed during the reign of Napoleon 
III, by Baron Haussmann, and the magnificent 
edifices and fine shade trees which adorn them 
testify eloquently, if silently, to the liberal 
spirit of the late emperor and the skill of his 
architect. Everywhere upon these thorough- 
fares English is spoken, and so universal is it 
among the shopkeepers that I suspect many of 
them derive a far larger income from Milord 
and Jonathan than from native purchasers. 
The English used is peculiar, however, and 
prone to disguise itself under such quaint 
forms as " Englisch Rosbifsteacks." 



On T/itirsday, Augtist 2jtk, we started out 
early in the morning, and soon reached the 
Fontaine des Innocents, a miniature Gre- 
cian temple executed by Jean Goujon. It is a 
ckcf d'cenvre of grace and elegance. Its cu- 
pola is supported by four square columns, uni- 
ted by arches at the top, and surmounted by 
an elegantly sculptured entablature. Within 
the temple, sheets of water flow over the ele- 
vated basin of a fountain. The whole struc- 
ture stands upon a platform, at each corner of 
which is a lion couchant. From the fountain 
it is but a short step to the celebrated Halles 
Centrales, or great markets. These are im- 
mense structures of iron and glass, quite orna- 
mental in appearance, and occupying four 
contiguous squares of ground. The entire 
area thus covered in would surpass that of all 
our market houses united in one, and when it 
is crowded with meats, and vegetables, and 
flowers, and busy buyers, the scene is of great 
practical, if not very poetical interest. Immedi- 
ately in the rear of the market is the very pic- 
turesque old Church of St. Eustace, founded 
in 1532, but not entirely completed until 1788. 
It is an elaborate Gothic structure, beautiful in 
design and finish, and is three hundred feet in 
length. The noble arched ceiling is at a 
height of one hundred feet. This church is 
one of the finest specimens of Gothic church 
architecture extant, and is considered among 
the gems of the capital. 

The Ba>;que de France, one of the great 
levers by which the financial world is moved, 
and which has extended such important aid to 
government at critical junctures, occupies an 
extensive building with small pretense to 
architectural beauty. Like the Post-Office, 
near by, it is decidedly more useful than orna- 
mental. The circular Place des Victoikes 
contains a fine equestrian bronze of Louis 
XIV. " Le Grande Monarque " is superbly 
habited in a Roman toga, and his brow is 
crowned with laurel — his usual niilitary cos- 
tume. The fiery steed which he bestrides with 
such easy grace is apparently about to essay a 
leap from his pedestal over the roofs of the 
neighboring houses ; and will doubtless suc- 
ceed unless prevented by getting his legs en- 
tangled in his flowing tail, which, large and 
massive, sweeps the ground. One of the reliefs 
of the pedestal represents this Falstaffian 
coward in the act of charging directly upon 
the bayonets of the foe! Thus is history made. 
Many of the quaint buildings forming the cir- 
cumference of the "Place" are two hundred 
years old. 

The Bourse, or stock exchange, occupies a 
Corinthian temple dedicated to Mammon. It 
is two hundred feet long by one hundred and 
fifty feet wide, and is surrounded by a colon- 
nade of sixty-four massive columns, the oppo- 
site fronts being approached by broad flights 
of marble steps. The Bourse was built 1808- 
1825, after designs by Alex. Brongniard at a 
cost of $1,600,000. The government wisely 
prohibits the entrance of the public to the 
stock sales, believing, no doubt justly, that 
spectators are likely to imbibe a taste for gam- 
bling. Pity that the brokers are not also de- 
barred entrance ! 

The beautiful Boulevard Poissonniere and 
its continuations, the Boulevards Montmartre 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



53 



and Italiens, conduct us to the Chaussee 
d'Antin, and penetrating this a short distance 
we turn into the Boulevard Haussmann — all 
fine streets, full of showy shops — and find our 
banker, one of the branches of the great house 
of Drexel, in Philadelphia. Here we receive 
news from home, and a huge package directed 
in Mr. Toy's well-known chirography. The 
contents are August "Amateurs" containing 
the. first installment of these notes of travel; 
and as we peruse the paggs, we seem to be 
making our journey over again. 

The new Grand Opera, the most magnifi- 
cent lyric temple in the world, is situated in 
the Place d'Opera, and is surrounded by the 
Boulevards Capucine and Haussmann, and 
the Rues Auber, Scribe, Gliick and Halevy. 
This edifice, completed externally, was ex- 
pected to be ready for occupancy early in 
1875; our special Parisian correspondent, Vic- 
tor Keratry, has already given the readers of 
"The Amateur" a very excellent description 
of. its interior and of the ceremonies of inau- 
guration. The architect, M. Charles Garnier, 
has certainly lavished upon the building all 
the beauty which genius, unfettered by pecu- 
niary -'restrictions, could conceive — and the 
elegance of the facjades, enriched by carvings, 
statuary aiid bronzes, is almost beyond de- 
scription. The principal front presents an 
arched colonnade, within projecting sides. 
Between each arch is an emblematic statue, 
and above it the bas-relief head of a composer, 
l?urel-crowned. The projecting ends are en- 
riched with four elegant marble groups. Over 
the colonnade is a second one composed of 
Corinthian pillars in pairs, united at the base 
by a marble balustrade. This forms an exte- 
rior promenade, the real walls of the building 
being recessed, and presenting a square win- 
dow-door, surmounted by the bust of a com- 
poser, for each interspace between the columns. 
The entablature is exceedingly ornate, its frieze 
covered with relief-figures. The roof is crowned 
with a dome surmounted by an immense bronze 
group. Each projecting wing of the building 
is also surmounted by elaborate bronzes. On 
one side of the edifice is a semi-circular pro- 
jection, profusely decorated, and designed for 
a state entrance. The total cost of the struc- 
ture will exceed nine millions of dollars. 

The Church of the Madeleine is a mag- 
nificent Corinthian temple, upon an elevated 
platform., surrounded by wide streets, which 
gives a view of its fine, massive proportions 
from every direction. It is built of white mar- 
ble, and the colonnade of fifty-two columns is 
fifty feet high. The frieze represents the 
"Last Judgment," and was executed by Le- 
moine. This elegant piece of sculpture is 
about 120 feet long, and contains many life- 
size figures. There are 32 niches in the exte- 
rior walls of the church, containing statuary. 
The bronze doors are, next to those of St. 
Peter's, at Rome, the largest and most beau- 
tiful in the world. The interior of the church, 
nearly three hundred feet long, is lighted only 
from the roof, through three dome sky-lights 
supported by arches springing from the col- 
umns on either side of the room. The ceiling 
is gorgeous with illumination and gilding, and 
the walls are covered with fine paintings and 



statuary. The Madeleine is, in fact, the rich- 
est of modern church edifices. It was com- 
menced in 1764 and finished in 1832, the 
progress of the work being frequently entirely 
suspended by the revolutions to which France 
is so peculiarly subject. The total cost of 
erection of the Madeleine was two and a half 
million dollars. 

A walk of a few squares brings us to the 
Place Vendome, an octagonal open space, in 
the centre of which Napoleon caused to be 
erected in 1806 a column commemorative of 
the victories of the French armies. It was 
modeled after Trajan's Pillar at Rome, and at 
the height of 135 feet was surmounted by a 
bronze statue of the emperor. The round 
shaft of the Colonne Vendome was covered 
by bronze plates representing in bas-relief the 
events of the great campaign of 1805, and 
containing over two thousand figures. The 
material used was obtained by melting twelve 
hundred cannon captured from the Austrians 
and Russians. Our readers may recollect that 
the destruction of this column was one of the 
ferocious acts of vandalism which digraced the 
recent outbreak of the Communists. The 
government, by extraordinary efforts, obtained 
the restitution of nearly every plate and frag- 
ment from the many persons who had carried 
them away as curiosities. The column is now 
being reconstructed, and rapidly approaches 
completion. But as to the statue, it is very 
difficult to say who will have the honor of the 
elevated position ; but it will not be the origi- 
nal figure, which the Bourbons caused to be 
melted into the equestrian Henri IV, now 
gracing the Pont Neuf. 

We now proceed to the immense series of 
gardens which, under the names of Place 
Napoleon, Place de la Concorde, and 
Champs Elysees, extend over a continuous 
space of a mile and a half, bordering the river 
Seine on the one hand, over which numerous 
fine bridges are thrown, and on the other the Rue 
Rivoli, the central avenue of the city. All the 
embellishments that taste could conceive, or 
power and wealth command, have been lav- 
ished for centuries upon the adornment of 
these magnificent gardens ; which are beyond 
doubt the finest in the world. At one end of 
this garden is the Louvre, at the other the 
Arc de l'Etoile. 

The palace of the Louvre is connected with 
that of the Tuileries by double ranges of 
buildings erected by Napoleon III; and the 
very large interior quadrangle, connecting by 
arched ways with the Rue Rivoli and the 
Seine, affords excellent views of the numerous 
edifices of various dates which constitute the 
united palaces. Of the Tuileries, however, 
once a noble pile one thousand feet in length, 
the blackened walls alone remain — another 
monument of the French idea of "egalite." 
The Arc de Triomphe of the Place Car- 
rousel, modeled after the Arch of Severus, at 
Rome, was constructed in the centre of the 
court-yard by order of Napoleon, in 1806. It 
is of marble, about forty-five feet high, and 
consists of a central arch and a smaller one on 
either side of it. Its sculptures represent 
"The Interview at Tilsit," "The Battle of 
Austerlitz," "The Capitulation of Ulm," "The 



54 



THE AMATEUE ABROAD. 



Occupation of Vienna," "The Peace of Pres- 
bourg." The arch is surmounted by a colossal 
bronze figure in a chariot drawn by four horses. 

The Garden of the Tuileries is laid out 
at the palace end with beautiful beds of flow- 
ers, fountains and statuary, but about two- 
thirds of it is a public park, where broad 
avenues bordered by fine old trees open vistas 
revealing charming views. The Place de la 
Concorde is simply a continuation of the 
park, and consists of an immense open square, 
in the centre of which stands the Obelisk of 
Luxor, a monolithic column erected at Thebes 
by Sesostris, B. C. 1500. Its four sides are 
covered by hieroglyphics appearing as fresh 
as though sculptured yesterday. This splen- 
did monument was presented to France by 
Mohammed Ali, weighs half a million pounds, 
and its transportation from Egypt occupied 
three years, and cost nearly a dollar a pound. 
On either side of the obelisk are magnificent 
fountains with colossal statuary supporting the 
upper basins ; the lower basins, fifty feet in 
diameter, are occupied by figures and jets of 
water. In a circle surrounding the Place are 
eight colossal statues representing the princi- 
pal cities of France ; and the intervening 
spaces contain beautiful beds of flowers, which 
here as elsewhere in Europe far exceed in 
brilliancy and luxuriance of bloom the same 
plants in America. The Place de la Concorde 
has been the scene of many stirring and 
dreadful events in French history ; where the 
obelisk now stands, once stood the guillotine, 
which after destroying Louis XVI and his 
queen, Marie Antoinette, and three thousand 
other victims of popular tyranny, finally de- 
capitated the butcher Robespierre, who had 
used the terrible engine so unmercifully to 
effect his own elevation. Even prior to the 
revolution the Place de la Concorde was bap- 
tized in blood ; for here, during the festivities 
of the marriage of Louis and his Austrian 
queen, occurred a sudden panic, when the 
horses of the state carriages trampled and 
crushed over a thousand people to death. The 
revolution of 1848 commenced upon this 
spot. 

The Champs Elysees is a beautiful avenue 
about a mile in length, extending from the 
Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe 
et de I'Etoile. At its commencement it is bor- 
dered by kiosks, restaurants, summer theatres, 
cafes chantantes, etc., each surrounded with 
ornamental gardens. LIpon the Seine side of 
the avenue stands the great Palace of Indus- 
try, or world's fair building of 1854. This 
noble structure, like the crystal palace at 
Sydenham, is still used for general exhibition 
purposes, and more particularly for that of 
paintings by living artists. The Champs 
Elysees terminates in a circular space — the 
apex of a hill, the site of the Arc de Triomphe 
et de I'Etoile. At night the whole extent of 
this garden-bordered promenade is brilliantly 
illuminated, and the throngs of gaily dressed 
people, the stylish equipages, the lights of all 
colors, the music, the sparkle and plash of 
fountains, the odor of flowers, the dark rust- 
ling leaves overhead, combine to produce a 
fairy-like scene of splendor elsewhere un- 
equaled. 



The Arc de Triomphe, the largest tri- 
umphal arch in the world, was commenced by 
Napoleon in 1806, but was not finally com- 
pleted until 1836. It is 150 feet high and 
nearly as wide. It is pierced by an archway 
about ninety feet high and by a smaller one at 
right angles to it. The material is white mar- 
ble, and the sculptures represent the achieve- 
ments of Napoleon's armies — a very large 
number of the figures being portraits. There 
are two elaborate^, highly relieved groups rep- 
resenting War and Peace respectively. The 
arch cost ten million francs. From it radiate 
twelve magnificent avenues ; but passing un- 
der it and straight ahead, one soon reaches the 
world-famous Bois de Boulogne, menda- 
ciously claimed to be the finest of parks. It 
is large and generally well shaded, but entirely 
too flat for picturesqueness, and the trees have 
not attained that majestic size which is so im- 
pressive in Hyde Park, London. The princi- 
pal drive, the Avenue Longchamps, is a fine 
wide road extending perfectly straight a dis- 
tance of about three iniles, over-arched the 
entire distance by fine trees, and terminating 
at a famous race-course called the Hippodrome 
of Longchamps. Near by is a curious arti- 
ficial cascade, with a two-story cavern in the 
rear of it, the whole structure being about 
forty feet in height, and the water pumped to 
the summit from the Seine. The "cascade " 
is entirely too intricate in its arrangements to 
simulate nature successfully, and well illustrates 
the poverty of the natural scenery, which 
could not furnish a hill high enough for a 
small waterfall. Bordering the Bois are some 
of the most beautiful rural residences we ever 
saw. The houses are generally unpretentious, 
though neat, but the surroundings of lawn,, 
garden and woodland are in exquisite taste, 
and the tout ensemble perfectly lovely. 

We spent the morning of Friday, August 
2%th, in the Museum of the Louvre. The 
Palais du Louvre is built around a c|uadrangu- 
lar court-yard, each face having a frontage of 
five hundred feet ; and nearly all of the three 
floors of this immense building is devoted to 
the exhibition of works of art — the property of 
the nation. Of course we cannot here give 
anything like a detailed description of this, the 
most famous of art-galleries. The paintings, 
of all ages and schools (but only by deceased 
artists), number eighteen hundred; then there 
are several hundred gems of statuary, and 
quite a large number of rooms devoted to 
collections of Egyptian and Assyrian antiqui- 
ties and sculptures, bronzes, pottery, etc. 
There are a dozen rooms containing 3000 
sketches and designs by the first masters, and 
several more rooms full of proof impressions 
of steel engravings. The plates themselves 
are, in most cases, also in the Louvre. There 
are ten rooms filled with models and details of 
construction of French war vessels. There 
are innumerable personal relics of French 
sovereigns — clothing, furniture, nick-nacks, 
jewels, etc. In fact, the entire palace is one vast 
store-house of history and art. Many of the 
saloons are of vast extent and splendidly dec- 
orated and frescoed. The most valuable of 
the pictures is Murillo's " Conception," once 
belonging to Marshal Soult, and bought by 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



65 



the government for six hundred thousand 
francs ! We tried to admire it, but could not. 

In the evening we visited the gardens en- 
closed by the Palais Royal, a building 
erected by Cardinal Richelieu in the beginning 
of the seventeenth century. The court-yard 
is a quadrangle seven hundred feet long by 
three hundred feet wide, planted with trees 
and flowers, and with a large fountain in the 
centre. The whole lower floor of the palace 
forms an arcade facing the garden, and prin- 
cipally occupied by dealers in diamonds and 
jewelry ; and iii the evening, when brilliantly 
illuminated, the display is perfectly dazzling. 
Here are also some of the most celebrated res- 
taurants of Paris, where one can dine luxuri- 
antly and cheaply. At night the garden is 
used as a public promenade, and thousands of 
people gather there. The jewelry, like that of 
London, disappointed us greatly, being much 
inferior in design and finish to that produced 
in the United States, while the prices were very 
high. 

Taking a cab on the morning of August 
2gfh, we drove out the beautiful Boulevard 
Sebastopol, intending Pere la Chaise for our 
objective point, to be reached by a round- 
about course which would include views of 
several principal churches and monuments. 
We first reached the Conservatoire des Arts 
ET Metiers, a building partly of recent con- 
struction, but of which a portion was a Bene- 
dictine monastery as early as the thirteenth 
century. One of the ancient towers of the 
walls is still standing. The entrance from the 
Rue St. Martin is through an elaborately sculp- 
tured archway representing Art and Science. 
The large building of the Conservatoire is a 
grand museum of industrial and agricultural 
machniery, and methods and products. It is 
directed by an able corps of professors, who 
deliver gratuitous lectures on arts and me- 
chanics. This very useful institution deserves 
to be imitated in our own country, and the es- 
tablishment of similar technical schools and 
museums in each of our principal cities would 
doubtless give a mighty impulse to that inven- 
tive genius which appears to be a peculiar 
characteristic of the American people. 

We now pass two more triumphal arches (the 
French have always been fond of erecting them), 
named the Porte St. Martin and Porte St. 
Denis. They are fine old stone archways, 
elaborately sculptured, and commemorate the 
victories of Louis XIV during 1672-4. Near 
the former are two fine theatres, the Renais- 
sance and the Porte St. Martin, both built 
on the site of a theatre burned during the ter- 
rible Communist revolt. We next drive out 
the Rue d'Hauteville, which ascends directly 
to the front of the commandingly situated 
church of St. Vincent de Paul. This is a 
very large edifice, of modern construction. 
Situated on the brow of a hill and upon an 
artificial platform thirty feet in height, it affords 
a fine view of the surrounding streets. On the 
face of the church there is a portico supported 
by a double row of Ionic columns, terminated 
by a lofty square tower at either side. The 
towers are connected at the roof by a hand- 
some balustrade, surmounted by statues of the 
evangelists. The ceiling of the church is 



supported by four rows of Ionic columns, and 
the choir is entered through an exquisitely 
sculptured arch sixty feet high. The Boule- 
vard Magenta now brings us to the great Bar- 
racks of Prince Eugene, in the vicinity of 
which is a fine fountain called the Chateau 
d'Eau, and so on through Boulevard Prince 
Eugene and Rue Roquette, out to Pere la 
Chaise, the most celebrated place of modern 
sepulture in the world — -which has .been de- 
scribed with lavish terms of praise by both 
natives and tourists, by the sober historian as 
well as the imaginative poet. We were much 
disappointed in it. The twenty thousand 
vaults and monuments, crowded together ir- 
regularly upon a very limited area, afford no 
room for the architectural and rural effects 
which beautify our great American eemeteries. 
Under these circumstances, artistic work would 
be useless, and very little attempt has been 
inade at adornment of any kind. There are 
scarcely any trees or grass, for there is no 
room for either; and your carriage cannot en- 
ter the enclosure, because the paths are mere 
foot-ways. Taking into consideration the man- 
ner in which Pere la Chaise has been eulogized 
for many years, it may safely be assigned the 
proud position of the greatest fraud in Paris. 
The cemetery occupies very high ground, and 
the view embraces nearly all of Paris, inclu- 
ding the Bois de Boulogne at the opposite ex- 
tremity of the city. The Rue Roquette is 
crowded with the shops of people engaged in 
grave mercantile pursuits, including stone cut- 
ters, undertakers, dealers in funeral flowers 
and funeral millinery. Ready made wreaths of 
immortelles, inscribed infancy colored flowers- 
"to my daughter." "to my cousin," and so on 
through the whole category of relationships, 
may be purchased, and a?'e purchased exten- 
sively and hung on wooden bars in front of 
the tombs — many bars containing a dozen or 
more wreaths. In some cases a rough pent 
roof surmounts these floral offerings, to pro- 
tect them from inclement weather. We also 
learned for the first time, by inspecting the pla- 
cards attached to specimens in the window of a' 
mourning milliner, that the bonnet which ex- 
presses ginef for the loss of a daughter, is con- 
structed on entirely different principles from 
the headgear sacred to the memory of a hus- 
band or father. It is for the memories awak- 
ened by perusing the great names inscribed 
upon its monuments that Pere la Chaise should 
be venerated. The names of those great 
dramatic, poetical and musical characters. Tal- 
ma, Bellini, Rubini, Rachel, Beranger, Beau- 
marchais, Moliere, vie in renown with those of 
the warriors, Kellermann, Foy, St. Cyr, Mass- 
ena, Ney, Sydney Smith. Science is represen- 
ted by Arago and La Place ; Romance, by Bal- 
zac. Alas ! that all these worthies should be 
committed to such an unpoetic resting place. 

On our return to our hotel, we drive past 
the Place de la Bastille, where once stood 
that terrible prison which became the first 
prize of the people, in the great French revolu- 
tion. Bloody conflicts occurred upon the same 
spot during the subsequent revolutions of 1830 
and 1848. A beautiful bronze column, I54feet 
high, resting on a white marble pedestal, is 
erected in the centre of the Place, and beneath 



56 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



it are interred the remains of those who fell in 
the two latter conflicts. The bronze column, 
which weighs over 160,000 pounds, terminates 
in a Corinthian capital, over which is placed a 
colossal figure of Liberty. Near-by is that fa- 
mous Faubourg St. Antoine, at once the home 
of untold misery, squalor and degradation and 
the hot bed of sedition, socialism and atheism. 

Our usual afternoon walk, this day, took us 
out the Rue Richelieu, entering at the corner 
of the Palais Royal, where a lofty row of col- 
umns supports the portico of the Theatre 
Francais. The French government very 
properly regards theatres as important means 
of popular education and aesthetic civilization, 
and accordingly provides liberally towards the 
maintenance of the best of them. From a 
tax of ten'per centum upon the gross receipts 
of nearly two hundred places of amusement, 
a revenue of 200,000 dollars per annum is de- 
rived, whilst 300,000 dollars are appropriated 
to subsidies to the Theatre Franc^ais, represent- 
ing the legitimate drama, the Academic Na- 
tionale de Musique and Theatre Italien, both 
for grand opera, and the Theatre Opera Comi- 
que, etc. The Theatre Francais has .^^50,000 
per annum, which enables it to mount in splen- 
did style many of those sparkling productions 
of Victor Hugo, of Scribe, and of the two Du- 
mas' which ha\e obtained world-wide reputa- 
tion. 

A short distance above the theatre, at the 
junction of the Rue Moliere, is the Fontaine 
MoLiERE, surmounted by a statue in sitting 
posture ; and still further up the street is 
anotherbeautiful fountain — that of the Louvre. 
■ The National Library, having a frontage of 
over five hundred feet on the Rue Richelieu, is 
like that of the British Museum, a government 
institution, first opened to the public under the 
reign of Louis XIV; it is now the largest li- 
brary in the world, containing nearly a million 
and a half of bound volumes, several hundred 
thousand pamphlets, and over a hundred 
thousand manuscripts. There are also ten 
thousand volumes containing 1,300,000 engrav- 
ings, and a collection of coins and medals 
nearly two hundred thousand in number. The 
library is freely placed at the disposal of read- 
ers and students for consultation. 

A hasty visit to the beautiful Church of the 
Trinity, with an elegant flower garden in front 
of it — a miniature park; adorned, moreover 
with three fine fountains, and then we wend 
our way home through the gay Boulevard 
Malesherbes and its busy continuation, the 
Rue St. Honore. In the evening we went to 
the Opera Comique, which is situated on the 
Place Italiens near the Rue Richelieu. A 
plain portico, supported by marble columns, 
presents no external features challenging ad- 
miration, nor is the interior decoration worthy 
of comparison with similar institutions in the 
United States ; but the performance of Dinorah, 
was in all respects surpassingly beautiful. The 
orchestra of fifty musicians rendered the diffi- 
cult score with artistic finish and delicacy of 
expression, and in the symphony, especially, 
fully deserved the enthusiastic encore which 
they received for its performance. The chorus 
of fifty voices was in excellent training, and 
the scenic effects superb. Madlle. Zina Dalti, 



the Dinorah of the evening, has a fresh, light 
voice, excellent method, and rare dramatic 
powers. Her salary was voluntarily doubled 
by the management, while we were in Paris, on 
account of her painstaking rendition of this role. 
The tenor, Mr. Sherie, was the best comic actor 
we ever saw on the operatic stage. The house is 
a small one, yet we paid only $1.60 to secure the 
best seats therein — but then the government 
appropriation of >«;5o.ooo per annum must go 
far towards paying expenses. Meyerbeer ap- 
peared to be a great favorite in Paris, as they 
were playing Dinorah three times a week at 
the Comique, whilst the Academie was alter- 
nating between Huguenots and Robert. 

On Sunday, Aug. '},Qth, the railroad carried 
us past charming suburban villas, adorned 
with that exquisite taste which so peculiarly 
distinguishes the French people, past the 
ruined palace of St. Cloud, and its noble park, 
and set us down at the ancient town of Ver- 
sailles, distant thirteen miles. 

The great palace of Versailles with its gar- 
dens and park, sixty miles in circumference, 
was commenced by Louis XIV, in 1660, who 
expended on these works the enormous sum of 
a thousand millions of francs — an amount, 
which at that time was relatively five times 
greater than at the present period. The pal- 
ace, as approached from the gardens, has a 
frontage of over 1 500 feet, broken by wings 
and projecting buildings. It is erected upon a 
broad plateau, the front of which is terraced 
and ascended by marble steps. It is as impossi- 
ble to describe in less space than a separate 
volume, all the features of this enormous his- 
toric pile, as it would be to enumerate the 
thousands of statues, vases, and fountains 
which ornament its fa<jades and grounds. The 
state apartments are truly magnificent : con- 
spicuous among them is che Grande Galerie de 
Louis XIV, 242 feet long, and 35 feet wide. 
The ceiling — height 43 feet — is painted by Le- 
brun, and the walls are relieved by Corinthian 
pilasters of red marble. A noble marble stair- 
case gives entrance to the Salle du Sacre, con- 
taining a number of paintings, including Da- 
vid's celebrated " Coronation of Napoleon," 
in which all the many life-size figures are j^or- 
traits. The Grande Galerie des Batailles, 400 
feet in length, has its panels filled with repre- 
sentations of the principal victories of the French 
armies, done by such great artists as David, 
Vernet and Gerard. There are also a large 
gallery of portraits of distinguished men and 
women of all ages and countries — many Amer- 
ican worthies figuring in the list, one of the 
Kings of France, and one of her marshals. 
Numerous other apartments are freely open to 
the visitor, one of which, small in extent, is 
replete with historic interest. It was originally 
the bedchamber of Maria Theresa, the queen 
of Louis XIV, and was successively occupied 
by Maria Leczinska, consort of Louis X\', and 
by the beautiful and unfortunate Marie Antoi- 
nette — who was here awakened from her slum- 
bers on the memorable night of Oct. 5th, 1789, 
by the noise of the mob breaking into the 
palace. 

The stately parterres and gardens, the statu- 
ary and fountains of the park, are most mag- 
nificent and charming, and lead away to a 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



57 



lovely lake called the Grand Canal, whereon 
float tiny pleasure boats. Beyond this sheet 
of water, broad drives and walks penetratre the 
forest of Versailles, most of the trees of which 
have been planted, and sedulously trained to 
overarch the paths, forming long, cathedral- 
like aisles of surpassing grandeur. The im- 
mense amount of water required for the great 
fountains of Versailles, is expensively pum- 
ped up from the Seine, and on every afternoon 
that the fountains play, it is at a cost of two 
thousand dollars. 

On Monday, Aug. 31^/, we visited the beauti- 
ful church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, 
which faces the colonnade of the Louvre. The 
ground whereon it stands was originally occu- 
pied by a church erected by Childebert, an 
early French king, and destroyed by the Nor- 
mans in 886. Rebuilt by Robert in 998, and 
again by Charles VII in 1427, it was from 
its tower that the fatal signal boomed forth on 
St! Bartholomew's night, which perfidiously 
doomed one hundred thousand Frenchmen to 
destruction. The building was almost demol- 
ished during the revolution of 1830, but has 
since been restored, and is now one of the 
most beautiful religious edifices inParis. 

Close-by the church, is the PoNT Neuf, a 
thousand feet long, spanning the Seine, which 
is here divided into two arms by the He Vache. 
Near the centre of the bridge, is an equestrian 
statue of Henry IV, fourteen feet high, of 
bronze. This beautiful monument was erected 
by Louis XVIIl in 1818, the material for its 
construction being obtained by melting a 
statue of General Desaix, and the original 
statue of Napoleon which surmounted the 
Colonne Vendome. From any of the twenty- 
seven stone bridges across the Seine, fine 
views of Paris may be obtained. The river, 
which is quite naiTow, is only navigated by 
very small pleasure steainers ; its banks are 
enclosed by granite quays, and upon tliem are 
erected palaces, public offices and gardens. 
One peculiar feature of the river, is the large 
number of floating bathing houses, so many 
of which are moored together in some places, 
as to leave barely a third of the stream open 
for navigation. At these establishments, which 
appear to be very popular, both men and wo- 
men are supplied with private baths at prices 
varying from two cents upwards. Swimming 
schools are attached to several of these bath- 
ing houses. 

Crossing to the island, we arrive in front of 
the Palais de Justice and the Tribunal du 
Commerce, both extensive and beautiful build- 
ings. The latter is the seat of commercial 
arbitrations so eminently useful that we might 
copy their principles with great advantage : 
From every walk of mercantile and industrial life 
are selected juries of experts, who are acquainted 
with the details and customs of their respective 
trades, and looked upon by them as men of 
integrity. To these are referred, in the first 
instance, all those vexatious disputes which so 
frequently arise in commercial transactions ; 
and their judgment is generally accepted as 
final — although an appeal can be carried to 
the courts. How much superior is this custom 
to our own senseless manner of bringing cases 
into court, the merits whereof the judges, jury 



and lawyers are utterly ignorant, from want of 
that technical experience which can only be 
acquired by life-long study. 

Adjoining the Palais de Justice is the beauti- 
ful Gothic church of Sainte Chapelle, pecu- 
liar from its great proportional height — being 
135 feet high by 118 long and 55 wide. The 
spire, richly carved and gilt, rises to the addi- 
tional height of 108 feet. The church was 
built under the reign of St. Louis, 1245, but has 
been restored on several subsequent occasions. 
The possession of the crown of thorns and of 
a piece of the true cross, (both quite as genu- 
ine as those belonging to other churches in 
Europe) in former times, greatly sanctified this 
building in the opinion of the multitude. 
Standing now, in front of the Palais de Justice 
and the Sainte Chapelle, immediately opposite 
one has the Tribunal du Commerce and the 
fine Municipal Barracks, while the view along 
the street embraces, in one direction, the Place 
DU Chatelet, with a fine fountain and monu- 
ment, erected in 1808 to commemorate French 
victories, and two beautiful theatres, the Chate- 
let and the Lyrique ; looking in the opposite 
direction, one sees the Pont St. Michel, and 
beyond it, the fountain of same name. From 
this point, one can see also the lofty towers of 
Notre Dame, and five minutes' walk brings 
one to the plaza in front of that venerable 
cathedral. The beautiful facade of the build- 
ing is 144 feet wide, including two square tow- 
ers which rise to the altitude of nearly 200 feet, 
and the entire building is over 350 feet in 
length. We were particularly struck with 
some of the grim old carvings around the en- 
trance doors, one of which represented the pro- 
cess of weighing men bodily in a pair of scales, 
to ascertain the preponderance of their virtues 
or vices. A long string of miserable wretches 
have probably been found to be "lightweights," 
and are accordingly confiscated to the devil, 
who with Satanic glee, is leading them by a 
rope, presumably to perdition, (for the sculp- 
tor's ideas being larger than the stone at his 
command, he has arrived at the end of the latter, 
somewhat prematurely for the satisfactory fin- 
ish of his story.) The church was commenced 
in 1 1 60, but not entirely completed, for nearly 
three hundred years. The plain but lofty and 
solemn interior, at first produces a feeling of 
disappointment to the visitor, which is soon re- 
placed by one of unmingled admiration at the 
harmony of its contours, and the majesty of its 
conception. 

Crossing over now, towards the Rue Rivoli, 
we come in sight of the ruins of the once mag- 
nificent and celebrated Hotel de Ville, 
burned during the Communist troubles. Most 
of the external walls are still standing, and pre- 
parations are being made for the restoration of 
the edifice. 

Here also is the Tour St. Jacques — all that 
remains of the church of that name. A beau- 
■ tiful little square, fitted with shrubs and flower- 
beds, surrounds the Tower, and this, like all 
other green spots in Paris, seems to contribute 
much to the happiness alike of the children 
who play on its paths, and to the older folks 
who set under its shady arbors, watching the 
sports in which they can no longer actively 
participate. 



58 



THE AMATEUn ABROAD. 



In the evening we went to the opera, as per- 
formed by the company of the Academie de 
Musique. We heard "Huguenots" performed 
with a completeness and strength of cast never 
equaled in America. 

The well trained chorus consisted of one 
hundred voices, the orchestra of sixty instru- 
ments, and in addition there was a very re- 
spectable (if the word can be so applied, ) ballet of 
forty. Imagine all this in a theatre, not exceeding 
half the size of our Academy of Music and 
you will obtain some idea of the effect produced 
in the ensembles. In the great " Consecration 
of the Daggers " scene, the terrible earnestness 
of the crescendos thrilled our party with some- 
thing akin to that horror which might be sup- 
posed to be felt by the concealed Raoul. Seats 
at this establishment, equivalent to those we 
had at the Opera Comique, cost us double the 
money, or about three dollars in gold — but the 
investment was not a bad one at such a figure, 
for until one hears the Huguenots done in 
equal style and with ecjual forces, he has no 
adequate conception of the terrible climaxes 
which Meyerbeer intended. 

On Tuesday Sept. is/, we devoted most of 
our time to the celebrated Jardix des Plantes, 
which, commenced two hundred and fifty 
years ago as a botanical garden only, has come 
to include a very extensive menagerie as well 
as a museum of natural history. Without ap- 
proaching nearly to the Kew Garden collection 
in size or beauty, that of the Jardin des Plantes, 
presents a feature of great importance to 
the student of botany in the scientific arrange- 
ment of its growing specimens, so that all the 
species of a genus may be examined side by 
side, and their peculiarities ascertained from 
the living plants. The menagerie, once said 
to be one of the foremost in the world, suffered 
terribly during the siege of Paris by the Prus- 
sians, as many of the large animals could no 
longer be fed during the terrible famine which 
preceded the capitulation. Some of them 
were killed and sold for food in the markets, 
and those who could afford it, had the felicity 
of dining off such luxuries as elephant steaks. 

The museum possesses many attractive fea- 
tures, and in beauty and completeness of ar- 
rangement, far surpasses any similar collection 
that we have seen in Europe. 

In the departments of reptiles and fishes es- 
pecially, it appears to exceed the British mu- 
seum, but its mammals, birds and shells are 
not so numerous, and in the two latter depart- 
ments, my conviction is now strengthened that 
the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 
phia, posesses the largest collection in the 
world. 

The museum of comparative anatomy occu- 
pies a large building separate from the general 
Natural History Collection. This is certainly 
the finest collection in the world, and owes 
much of its importance to the labors of the im- 
mortal Cuvier. An immense number of cra- 
nia and skeletons of different races of men, 
afford unrivaled facilities to the student of eth- 
nology; and the skeletons of animals, from the 
whale to the mouse, are numbered by many thous- 
ands. Nor is this all : — preparations of muscular 
tissues, of digestive and circulatory systems, of 
nerves and respiratory systems are met with 



on every hand, and include everything from 
man to the oyster. We are somewhat familiar 
with similar collections at home, but never saw 
anything approaching, for completeness and 
interest, the Anatomical Museum of the Gar- 
den of Plants. All the Professors of this great 
institution are salaried by the government, 
and the numerous courses of lectures on all 
branches of natural history are entirely free. 

In the afternoon, a short walk along the 
cjuays of the Seine took us past various fine 
public offices, and on to a parade ground, lead- 
ing to the Hotel des Invalides. the buildings 
of the Invalides are quite extensive and ancient 
in appearance, having been erected under 
Louis XIV, in 1670. Here the worn-out veter- 
ans and incapacitated soldiers of France, find 
an honorable retreat and maintenance for the 
balance of their days, and in the shady groves 
of the garden, can recount to admiring listen- 
ers the scenes of their active youth. The 
church, which contains the tomb of Napoleon, 
is hung around with the trophies of war, and 
must awaken those feelings of martial glory 
which are so strongly characteristic of this 
people. The grounds of the hotel are sur- 
rounded by a moat, and the approaches are 
commanded by numerous antique cannon, 
long since past effective service. A library of 
30,000 volumes munificently contributed by 
Napoleon, affords the solace of literature to 
such of the braves who can read. 

Returning through the garden of the Tuiler- 
ies, we encountered a free public concert, by 
the military band of one of the Parisian regi- 
ments of National Guards. Five minutes liste- 
ning convinced us that distance would lend en- 
chantment to the sound, and accordingly we 
marched off our two sensitive ears as rapidly 
as our means of locomotion would permit. 

On Wednesday, Sept. '2d, again crossing the 
Seine, this time by the beautiful bridge dedica- 
ted to the arts, we soon arrived in front of the 
fine old quadrangular pile, known as the Pal- 
ace OF the Luxembourg. Built by Maria de 
Medecis over 250 years ago, it was the resi- 
dence of royalty, or of branches of the royal 
family up to the great revolution ; and it has 
several times become the seat of government 
during more recent periods. The great attrac- 
tion of the palace, at present, is its collection 
of paintings by the most distinguished living 
French artists. The gallery is not large, but 
most choice as to beauty of execution of the 
pictures, though we must confess our unsophis- 
ticated American notions were much shocked 
by want of drapery on most of the figures. It 
appears to us that clothing may be as admira- 
ble on a canvas or marble representation, as 
upon a living subject, and that apart from any 
suggestion of indelicacy, there is in most 
cases, a ludicrous incongruity in clothing rep- 
resentations of the human form in that nudity 
which custom, no less than necessity, has caused 
us to cover habitually. As well might the lion 
be depicted without his skin, as Napoleon with- 
out his cocked hat and spurs. These ideas 
prevented us from fully enjoying the little col- 
lection of statuary which fills the lower gallery. 
It is curious how frequently the sculptor's own 
characteristics are revealed to us in his works. 
Some of these nude figures are so noble in con- 



THE AMATEUR ABROAD. 



59 



ception, that the want of costume is scarcely 
noticeable, but there are others which, without 
being able to trace the source of the impres- 
sion, do impress us with the idea that the artist 
is a vulgar fellow whose animality controlled 
his chisel. The garden of the Luxembourg is 
magnificently laid out with trees, shrubbery, 
flowers, fine fountains and innumerable statu- 
ary. The day being a fine one, the place was 
filled with happy children, playing on its wide, 
shaded avenues. The art of laying out and 
adorning pleasure grounds, has been cultivated 
to a much higher degree of perfection in Eur- 
ope than with us, and the beauty of effect at- 
tained there, cannot be conceived by an Amer- 
ican who has not seen it. 

Near the Luxembourg — so near as to be in 
view of it, is the splendid temple of the Pan- 
theon, "dedicated to the glory of France." 
Formed like a Grecian cross, it is surmounted 
by a lofty dome, and its facade is modeled 
after its celebrated ancient namesake. One 
hundred and thirty fluted Corinthian coltimns 
divide the interior into four aisles, and support 
the richly painted ceiling at a height of eighty 
feet. In the vaults beneath the church are the 
monuments of many of France's greatest men. 
The Pantheon is intended to rival Westminster 
Abbey as a national mausoleum — a design, as 
yet, very far from realization. The building 
lias cost between five and six million dollars. 
In curious contrast with this modern temple, 
is the singular old church of St. Etienne du 
Mont, erected during the reign of Clovis, and 
preserving in all its external and internal fea- 
tures, the stamp of venerable antiquity, not- 
withstanding its frequent "restorations." The 
church of St. Sulpice, a much more modern 
structure, was completed 225 years ago. Its 
noble Doric portico is flanked by towers, unlike 
in form. This church is 432 feet in length, 
and contains twenty beautiful chapels. Like 
the many other fine churches we have described, 
this is rich in frescoes and gilding, in paintings 
and statuary. Description fails to convey very 



definite ideas of such subjects ; and especially 
where we have described so many, do we find 
it difficult to characterize each distinctively. 
A single glance at an engraving or photograph 
will convey a more definite idea of a building, 
than pages of the most elaborate diagnosis. 
We saw other churches in Paris, but will not 
weary our readers with further details. 

Our travels this morning included the Hotel 
Cluny, originally a monastery erected towards 
the close of the fifteenth century. Subse- 
quently coming into possession of a distin- 
guished antiquarian, M. du Sommerard, his 
heirs finally sold it to the French Government, 
and it now contains a nationaL,antiquarian col- 
lection of much importance. It is a remarkably 
interesting and well-preserved specimen of a 
mediaeval chateau. On our way back to our 
hotel we pass the Palace of the Institute 
OF France, a noble abiding place for the fore- 
most learned society in the world. Also, the 
National Mint, a building more vast than 
beautiful, and possessing no features in its 
coining department especially interesting to 
those who have witnessed the perfection of 
operation, and beauty of the machinery at the 
United States Mint in Philadelphia. 

With this day cone uded our week of hasty 
sight-seeing in Paris — -a period all too short to 
do justice to a great metropolis. We found 
much that was admirable in the great capital, 
but, shall we confess it — did not have even our 
moderate expectations realized. Paris certainly 
is not the capital of the world, but London 
just as certainly is. In almost every department 
of art or science, the collections in the latter city 
excel those of the former. The genius of the 
French nation is so different from our own, 
that perhaps we are not able to estimate them 
fairly, but it appears to us that they have given 
more attention to mere frittering ornamenta- 
tion, than to those solid structures and valua- 
ble collections which are the boast of the 
British metropolis. 



Wherein we Conclude. 



On Sept. 2,d, we departed for London, by 
way of Dieppe and New Haven, making the 
channel passage on a steamer, the model 
whereof was a tub. Miss Araminta was sup- 
plied with a cabin-bed, where her reflections 
soon eventuated in throwing up all engage- 
ments made with her French dinner. The 
Amateur, not so lucky, was compelled to sit 
on deck, where a faithful umbrella, cherished 
companion of all his wanderings, did its best, 
but in vain, to protect him from the contact of 
a most insinuating rain ; whilst at every lurch 
of the vessel, his nature protested most vehe- 
mently against the misery of his situation. 
The horrors of the channel passage have not 
been over-rated, and future tourists are earn- 
estly recommended to go by way of Behring's 
Straits, or better still, don't go at all. How- 
ever, after traveling from 7.45 A.M. until nearly 



9 P. M., we arrived at our old London quarters, 
the Midland Grand Hotel, where the enthusi- 
astic nature of our reception, partly consoled 
us for the dinners which we had been unable 
to stomach. 

The next day, i\.th inst, we spent in the 
streets, recalling former sights and impres- 
sions ; looking admiringly once more on the 
monuments, the churches, the pork-pie shops, 
the palaces, the eel-stew restaurants, the mu- 
seums, the raw-snails stands, in a word, what- 
ever has contributed to make the British name 
renowned and terrible throughout the world. 
Alas, that all things decay ! Even British 
veneration gives way before the rude push of 
progress ; and so, for the last time, we passed 
through the venerable Temple Bar — for it is 
unsafe, and blocks up the way of commerce — 
so the fiat of demolition has gone forth, and 



60 



THE AMATEUR ARROAD. 



the hand of violence has already seized upon 
its sacred pillars. Still, as Junius aptly re- 
marks, one's faith in the stability of things is 
measurably restored upon ascertaining that at 
the neighboring cooked-fowl shop, cold, roasted 
specimens of the Gallic breed, may still be had 
at the standard price of one shilling and six- 
pence each. When France shall fatten upon 
her own national emblem, and England grow 
consumptive of sour wines, then look out for 
what will happen next ; but until then, let 
every true Britain enjoy his cold meat pie in 
peace — particularly as no one else has a relish 
for it. 

The afternoon of this day, we again visited 
the Zoological Garden, which certainly main- 
tains a proud pre-eminence over its conti- 
nental rivals ; and in the evening we went to 
the Vaudeville Theatre, where we saw 
"Old Heads and Young Hearts," one of the 
best of Boucicault's plays, excellently cast and 
mounted. Good plays have enormous runs in 
London : the present one had been performed 
over sixty times, consecutively. The "Amer- 
ican Lady," and " Bonnie Fish-wife," which 
were played when we first came to London, 
were still running at the "Criterion" on our 
return, whilst the " Prayer in the Storm," had 
contemporaneously reached over a hundred 
representations at another theatre. 

Saiurday and Sunday we revisited West- 
yiinster Abbey, finding new objects of interest 
during each visit. The Dean's yard, an an- 
ticjue little quadrangular park, is surrounded 
by the residences of the Abbey dignitaries ; 
one door bearing the name plate of Rev. 
Charles Kingsley. The ancient cloisters con- 
tain many curious tablets and inscriptions, in- 
cluding tombs of old abbots deceased nearly 
900 years ago. We had reason to congratu- 
late ourselves upon having "done" London 
during "the season," for now we had nothing 
but fog and rain, making street expeditions 
very unpleasant, and preventing us from vis- 
iting Hampton Court, as we had intended to 
do. However, if we could not venture forth, 
we could at least fill up our time by eating. 
Coming direct from Paris to London, we had 
the opportunity of contrasting bills of fare at 
two celebrated representative hotels : if the 
Midland Grand did not offer us the variety of 
the Hotel du Louvre, it gave us at least, double 
qiiaiitity, and that in substantials. Behold the 
result of this difference in feeding ! The 
Frenchman is as meagre as his soup, and the 
Englishman as sturdy (and frequently as 
brutish) as his beef. 

On Monday Sept. "jth, we went to Liverpool, 
where we met friends who had come out with 
us, and were now going home in the same 
steamer also. A very pleasant evening was 
passed in mutually recounting experiences ; 
and the next day was occupied in interesting 
walks through streets and suburljs. In the 
evening we wentto the Amphi Theatre situated 
in odorous proximity to a very fishy fish 
market, and there beheld the Troubadour, 
with his friends and family duly burnt and 



poisoned by the Carl Rosa Opera Co. The 
majority of the singers fully deserved their 
fate — yet the audience seemed to think it all 
very fine. A Mad. Vaneri commenced to mur- 
der poor " Leonora " from her first appearance 
in the role, and had so nearly exhausted her 
small supply of voice when the opera was not 
nearly through, that we much feared the hero- 
ine would expire prematurely. We were glad 
to have the opportunity of hearing Miss Lucy 
Franklein, long renowned as the greatest of 
English opera contraltos, but she is only a 
third-rate singer. In fact, the whole concern 
was infinitely worse than any operatic perfor- 
mance we ever heard in America. 

On Wednesday Sept. gt/i at 6.30 P. M., the 
good steamer Illinois bore us away from the 
Liverpool docks. Amidmost poignant emotions, 
caused by bad weather and rough seas, did we 
pass the several succeeding days. Can any 
human misery exceed that which attends a 
"pleasure trip" across the ocean? Rather 
would we make up our tourist letters in the fu- 
ture, by scissoring guide-books, than go over 
again upon the behest of even the Board of 
Music Trade itself! 

At last, an English sparrow, captured on 
deck when five hundred miles out from New 
Foundland, gave us the first cheering intima- 
tion of the approaching termination of our 
voyage. Then the seas became smooth and 
the wind favorable, and we made 344 miles in 
a single day, and our food no longer rose upon 
us, but our spirits did. Now we enter the 
capes, champagne the doctor at the lazaretto, 
who accordingly gives us a clean bill of health, 
and come up to our wharf amid the peltings of 
a particularly disagreeable rain. Trunks are 
prepared for examination, and every passenger 
is frightened half to death at the thoughts of 
the impending ordeal — for has not each one of 
us brought home sundry presents and nick- 
nacks, which can only pass free by the courtesy 
of the Custom House. Our editorial party, 
having only hand-satchels, stepped ashore as 
soon as the plank was laid, and separated for 
our respective domicils long ere the confisca- 
tions of luggage fairly commenced. 

And now, what shall we say at parting ? 
Yes, we enjoyed it. Certainly, our health was 
improved by it. It cost about seven hundred 
dollars each for four months travel ; our hotels 
and conveyances being almost invariably the 
best : — besides, we always had wine at table, 
and tested over fifty different kinds ; in it- 
self, no small experiance and expenditure. 
Therefore, a trip to Europe can be made at 
less cost than a summer tour in the United 
States ; with a large advantage also, in the way 
of novelty. We brought home over five hun- 
dred photographs, representing every portion 
of our route, all the public buildings Sec, and 
when we gaze upon them and refresh our mem- 
or>^ with these hasty tourist notes, our journey is 
so vividly recalled to us, that we feel we shall 
never want to go again, until time hath as- 
suaged the remembrance of our ship-board 
sufferings. 



END. 



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